A Moment of Rest, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico. Portrait photograph by Luc Gatterdam, finalist in the Shoot The Frame Portrait photography award, January 2025

Finalist Portrait · January 2025

A Moment of Rest

This photo shows a cenote guide resting beneath the sun-dappled branches in Mérida, Mexico. He has walked these paths countless times, leading visitors through the hidden waters below. To others, the cenotes are a place of adventure, but to him, the cenotes are more than water and rock—they are sacred places, woven into the fabric of the land. When I look at this photo, I see a man who carries history on his shoulders. He is not just a guide—he is a guardian, a bridge between the past and present. The cenote is his home, its stories his own. In his stillness, there is a quiet wisdom, an understanding that the land does not belong to us—we belong to it.