These underwater portraits speak of an apparent innocence: the pretended candor of childhood and the innocence of a gaze.

They also describe an ambiguous zone that emerges from the particular situation of the shots. The aquatic medium determines the photographic condition, taking it to an extreme. The image obtained is the exact result of defenselessness and protection. The latter if we consider water as the primeval medium; the former with water as a hostile element in which there is no chance of survival. The result touches upon the oniric, understanding dreams as the delicate limit between life and death.

Within this ambiguity the volitional quality of human beings is reduced to that of the animal species. Thus, the apparent innocence uncovers portraits that reveal the condition as a species which precedes human nature.

Bibi Calderaro

Bibi Calderaro lives and works in Argentina and can be reached at:

grincald@evnet.satlink.net