Asako Narahashi
Friday, 7 August 2009
Asako Narahashi’s series half awake and half asleep in the water is a collection of C-Prints of various coastal sites in Japan. Since beginning the project in 2001, the artist has photographed over fifty locations with a Nikonos 35mm waterproof film camera. Narahashi floats chest deep in the ocean while facing back towards the shore, her camera held half-submerged in the water. By watching the waves without using the viewfinder, the artist times her pictures according to the swells of the ocean tide.
From this vantage point, waves washing against the lens of the camera create unexpected relationships between water, land and sky. With the water in the extreme foreground, the ocean dominates the view and distorts the customary perspectives of bridges, airplanes, buildings and mountains. The images are suspended in moments of uncertainty, leaving conflicting sensations of calm and growing apprehension unresolved. (Yossi Milo Gallery)