As Above, So Below
Shot with Sony A7RIV + FE 50mm F1.2 GM
Photographer: Amani AlShaali
Model: Kelsey Johnson
Our creative director and photographer Amani AlShaali talking about one of her latest photography experiments.
The word “lacuna” is derived from “lac” or lake, and signifies something omitted or missing, a hiatus. Lakes tend to evoke a sense of mystery and stillness. The Book of Symbols states that lakes, for many people, have been a sign of the land of the dead, of life gone missing into the fluid substance and darkness of another world.
On solving practical issues to create these photographs; Amani went on to explain how she achieved the simulated frozen lake look while creating these pictures in her home studio:
Considering the lack of suitable locations in the part of the world we live in, I made my own lake by filling up an inflatable pool with water and covering it with a black fabric. I played with a sheet of acrylic to further emphasize a lake’s surface, implying that it’s slightly frozen.
I asked Amani about the symbolism of these photographs:
Marshes symbolize those eyes which have wept too much, and I wanted to combine the two together by choosing a model who’s appearance can evoke that feeling. The feeling of loss and melancholy that all of us face at certain points in our lives.
“Perhaps we think and dream so intimately next to the lake because it reflects us best as the most "body-like" of the bodies of water. Different from an ocean or a great river, the scale of a lake can be encompassed by the human imagination, and lakes, like us, live and die. A lake begins dying as soon as it is formed, taking in sediment from contributing rivers or streams, filling with accumulating organic debris and ever so slowly, as the stretches of geological time progress, turning to marsh, bog and finally land. At the same time the lake is continually taking in water and letting it go, flowing in an apparent stillness and constancy, demonstrating the give and take necessary to support life.”
- The Book of Symbols
You can see more of the Amani’s fine art photography work here (Fine Art Work)
