Emotive Portraits of People Submerged Under Water.

Look, I know what you’re thinking. “This is totally random, Dana.” But that is the entire premise of Yellowtrace – delivering the goods, but also keeping you on your toes by throwing in a little curve ball every once in a while, making sure you’re still paying attention. Cool? Thought so.

As the title of the post suggests, today we take a look at an extraordinary collection that showcases emotive portraits of people submerged under water. “How bizarre is that?”, I hear you say. Indeed, but somehow so captivating and truly beautiful.

I’m sure the idea of drowning is one of the scariest thoughts for most of us – it definitely is for me. In fact… Confession time… I’m still completely freaked out about opening my eyes under water without goggles. I know, I’m SUCH a loser. So – for my money – these images represent the union of something peculiar, verging on scary, presented in such a beautiful way that elevates the bizarre into the sublime. That’s my creative utopia right there.

Anyway, I know you guys are going to love this post. I can feel it in my waters. Boom boom!

‘Drowning’ Project by Alban Grosdidier // Was it just me or did anyone else hold their breath while looking through this series by Alban Grosdidier? Conceived as a visual metaphor, the Paris-based photographer equates the feeling of being immersed in a body of water to living in a big city, exploring its effects on the population. One can only take so much of either, until we are overwhelmed by an invisible force. The project draws parallels between the similar type of stress in both situations – one that is intangible, yet very real.

Grosdidier presented large-scale prints of his works on the streets of Paris on two occasions. The exhibitions took place alongside the Canal Saint-Martin, with works eventually weathered down by torrential rainstorms.

‘APNEA Humans Breathless’ project by Gabriele Corni // Italian photographer Gabriele Corni and architect Claudio Silvestrin teamed up with GALLLERIAPIÙ, a multifaceted entity for research and experimentation in contemporary art. Through an analogy between the immersions in water and those in the everyday life, APNEA Humans Breathless project aims to investigate the shortness of breath in today’s society, with the intention to document the emotional variety of humans in distress. Each portrayed subject writes anonymously his or her desire, which in the poetic of the work stands for the breath, and metaphorically, the motivation to dive daily into the path of life and make sense of it.

“I find it very interesting to portray people breathless and every time I remain amazed by proving that without breath we are forced to abandon every perfect projection of ourselves. The awareness of ‘being portrait’ and the intensions of the desire to ‘be pictured beautifully’ vanish completely because of the impelling and fundamental necessity to breathe,” explains Corni.

‘Mirrors’ by Robin Cerutti // Montreal-based photographer Robin Cerutti captures alluring underwater portraits in his series titled ‘Mirrors’. The images, photographed in vibrant crystal-clear pools, makes a strong visual impact, appearing as though the subjects are about to walk through a surreal liquid portal towards another universe.

Since 2009, Robin has been studying the close relationship between people, physical space and water, and experimenting in original ways to combine water and people in natural, original environments.

Album Cover for Kings of Leon’s “Walls” // Released last month by RCA Records, Walls is the seventh studio album by American rock band Kings of Leon. The album title is an acronym for ‘We Are Like Love Songs’, which continues the band’s unwritten rule of having five-syllable album titles. The artwork, at its core, is a portrait of each band member peering up from a pool of liquid – wearing lipstick and fake eyelashes…? Anyway, this may be one of the weirdest album covers to drop this year. Check out the video of the album cover in the making – it’s pretty cool.

“Under Waters” by Builders Club // This video explores the uncanny world of a girl, lost in her dreams and hopes, produced by London creative duo Jonas Hegi and Julien Simshauser (aka Builders Club). They’re some extraordinary visual effects and tricks right there.

[Images and videos courtesy of the artists.]