Stilts in the Seascape

This is our entry in Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #56: Seascapes and/or Lakeshore.

As we traveled near Galle along the coast of the Indian Ocean in the south of Sri Lanka, we came across these stilt fishermen.  The practice of erecting stilts for fishing was born of necessity during World War II, but came to the world’s attention only after Steve McCurry’s iconic photographs in 1995.  The growing interest of other photographers soon educated the fishermen in the lucrative occupation of posing for money.  The actual fishing occurs at dawn and dusk when schools of fish are present.  Tourists like us drive by at all times of the day.  To get maximum profit from their stilts, the fishermen can either (a) pose for tourists on their own stilts, (b) rent their stilts to other locals to pose as fishermen for tourists, or (c) charge tourists to sit on their stilts.  We didn’t see any fish being caught. We got our pictures and we paid a fee.  Having seen photos of the devastation caused by the 2004 tsunami, which still affects their livelihood, we do not fault the stilt fishermen.

Stilt Fishermen

This photo was taken on February 18, 2018.  Specs are:

Canon 100D, ISO 100, f/7.1, 1/250 sec, 100 mm.