Talent of the Year 2020 - NOMINEE: Marissa Chen

I have spent every summer since 2016 recording the daily routines of free-diving 海人(ama) in the rural Japanese coastal area of Minamiboso, in the western prefecture of Chiba. An ancient and technically demanding tradition, free-diving involves foraging for abalone, pearls, seaweed and other shellfish without the aid of any breathing equipment, at depths that can range up to 20 metres. The disappearing communities recorded here are among the last in Japan, with an estimated 2,000 active divers remaining nationwide as of 2014. The only other living ama community outside of Japan -- referred to locally as 해녀 (haenyo) -- is located a stone's throw across the Korea Strait, on the small tourist island of Jeju,.

The survivability of ama – which, contrary to popular belief, include a significant proportion of male divers – has been subject to internal migration, ecological and technological changes, and extensive restrictions to Japanese fishing laws over the past 50 years. The divers featured average around 75 years old, and unlike the generations that came before, none of their children have elected to continue the family trade.