Gold panner, by Saša Kosanović (3rd Prize)

The photo was taken on the Drava river in Croatia. The man captured in the picture is one of the last two gold panners on the Drava river; both of whom are from Donji Miholjac, a village in Međimurje region well known for its gold panners. Although retired for ten years, the man is still in business demonstrating to visitors and tourists how gold was extracted in the past. It was hard work but well paid at the time. For a gram of gold it was necessary to manually move a cubic meter of gravel and at the final stage gold was separated from sand though the use of mercury, which carried a great health hazard. The average daily catch was about one gram of gold.