photography award 2026
This long-term project marks Abhishek Rajaram Khedekar’s return to his hometown of Dapoli, on India’s west coast. By focusing on a generation of young people from fishing families, he explores the profound transformations taking place in a region where the sea—long at the heart of local ways of life and family legacies—no longer guarantees a future. Caught between staying rooted and leaving, these younger generations are coming to terms with uncertainty, migration, and the changing landscapes and identities around them.
Nurtured by long-standing friendships, Abhishek Khedekar’s work moves beyond a traditional documentary approach to offer an intimate and sensitive perspective. His images focus on moments of waiting, rest, and transition, making coastal landscapes the silent witnesses to a territory in the midst of transformation. Without succumbing to heroic or melodramatic portrayals, the photographer explores the transmission of traditions, models of masculinity, the sense of belonging, and the aspirations of a generation facing the gradual erosion of a way of life.
