Self-taught photographer and Kaua‘i resident Bruna Stude has captured a lifetime of adoration for the ocean in her fine art photography. Antonio Arellanes of TimeSpace Gallery in Hanapepe is proud to present Stude’s first Kaua‘i show, again showing the gallery’s
Self-taught photographer and Kaua‘i resident Bruna Stude has captured a lifetime of adoration for the ocean in her fine art photography.
Antonio Arellanes of TimeSpace Gallery in Hanapepe is proud to present Stude’s first Kaua‘i show, again showing the gallery’s commitment to contemporary fine artists living and working on the island. Stude’s photographic work is hauntingly beautiful and dream-like.
Growing up in Croatia, Stude spent summers on the fantastically stunning Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic sea. “My earliest memories are of water, and my first love — diving. I wondered about the world beneath the ocean’s surface before I could ride a bike or write. The experience was magical, even off an old fisherman’s pier at New Castle in Croatia, where I used to spend my summers,” writes Stude.
Studying law before deciding to chase the wave of travel on the open seas, Stude always carried a camera. Working as a crew member on luxury yachts, Stude was able to travel to paradisical locales, often unrecorded by the camera’s lens. Soon the amateur was shooting for New York publications, her images popular in stock and editorial circles, but her fine art was developing under the radar, and it’s this body of work that now drives the artist.
“I am most happy underwater,” said Stude. “It’s the place I feel most comfortable, most free.”
The photography borne from Stude’s sincere feeling of connection with the ocean reflects this intimate knowledge. “I know it seems unusual, with all the blue and green and bright colors in paintings about water I see here, my black and white images might seem strange,” said Stude. “But I found that the deeper I went, the colors would not translate on film, and I’d get images that didn’t look at all like what I saw. Also, the deeper you get, color fades, and there is only light and dark.”
The timeless and gentle quality of water’s shadow and reflection, are seemingly perfect in Stude’s black and white imagery. “Her work is truly an invitation and experience into the universality of the ocean … and a connection to our sense of oneness with it,” writes Antonio Arellanes.
Movement is another reoccurring theme in Stude’s work. “Water moves, light moves in water, the animals swim … my videography experience shows up in the still imagery, I try to capture the movement of the ocean.”
The fluidity of the sea is also represented by Stude’s sensitivity to the shape of the creatures she photographs — whether fish or human.
“When I was shooting the local fishermen of the South Pacific, I was so humbled by their natural belonging to the water, so graceful, diving off the boat. They are so wonderfully adapted to the ocean — it was an amazing experience being with them and I think the images that came from that day show that we were able to really communicate, not through language, but our mutual love of the water,” said Stude.
“I feel so fortunate to be able to exhibit this work here, at home, on Kaua‘i,” said Stude. “We (artists) are so grateful for what Antonio has done with the gallery, to give us a chance to share our work, and create a community.” In her time on Kaua‘i, Stude has not been able to shoot as much as she would like. “It’s expensive to organize a dive, but I have done a few, and plan to do more. Chris Turner of Napali Riders took me out to capture a short film about dolphins entitled “Encounter,” off of Polihale Beach. I am so thankful to him.”
The film was juried in the “Art of Digital 2006” at Lyceum Theater in San Diego.
Part of Stude’s love for the ocean has translated into a passion for conservation. “Year after year, we would return to certain spots during yacht voyages, and we would find coral reef bleaching, or shark depletion … in Croatia, the monk seal is already extinct, but was once plentiful proven by the ancient (500 B.C.E) Greek coins that pictured the monks in silver,” said Stude.
She is hoping to connect to conservation groups and to collaborate efforts using her work to illustrate the beauty and preciousness of the sea.
Chosen as one of the artists in Honolulu’s Academy of Arts “Artists of Hawai‘i 2007” Stude feels honored to be sharing her work with a broader audience at this time in her career. “When I photograph in the ocean, I look to find and capture the magnificence of that which is common and universal to it. I explore the variety of images familiar in the ocean; and try to breathe new life into them. My photographic art is my tribute to ocean life, and my concerned investment in its continued future,” writes Stude.
Working with Lihu‘e’s Tom Niblick at Printmaker, and Arellenas at TimeSpace, Stude feels she has “come home” and looks forward to more opportunities to capture the silent beauty of the fragile water which surrounds our island.
Meet the artist at Art Walk
Reception and opening for Bruna Stude ‘Thalassa’
Where: TimeSpace Gallery — Old Town Hanapepe
When: Tonight from 6-9 p.m.
Free and open to the public
More Info: 335-0094
