Estebane Rezkallah
The Early Bear
Cub bears and their mother, Greenland, 2024
Category - Polar Regions
Two bear cubs follow in their mother’s tracks, learning by imitation. Each journey is an opportunity for her to prepare them to adapt on their own to this extreme, unpredictable, and often hostile environment. This image highlights the crucial role of the mother in polar bears (Ursus maritimus), who raise their cubs alone for 18 to 30 months; day after day, the cubs learn to become independent, to navigate their territory, and to survive in it. In the photograph, the three silhouettes present a unified rhythm, as if each form were a natural extension of the previous one. The surrounding ice, snow and ocean also seem to be in perpetual motion. Thus, the image transcends the simple scene it depicts: it becomes an evocation of the essential balance between transmission, presence, and adaptation.
HONOURABLE MENTION
600 mm f/5-6.3 Lens - 1/2500 sec at f/9 ISO 500