Selina Lamberti
Artist Statement: Submerged Series
I grew up just a five-minute walk to the bay and a fifteen-minute drive to the ocean. Because of this, water (especially the ocean) has had, and will always have, a sentimental hold on me. Whenever I was struggling with adolescent woes I retreated to the water; I would watch the waves move in and out, repetitive and constant. The undeniable connection of people to water is one that Charles Baudelaire addressed when he wrote, “Why is the spectacle of the sea so infinitely and eternally agreeable? Because the sea represents at once the idea of immensity and movement…. Twelve or fourteen leagues of liquid movement are enough to convey to man the highest expression of beauty which he can encounter in his transient abode.” Being submerged in the ocean is exhilarating, all your senses are heightened and alert. Salt clings to your skin while waves push and pull you with their never-ending rhythm. No longer can you feel gravity holding you down as you float buoyantly with the current. The pull of the current is calming and frightening at the same time. When in the ocean I am always conscious of its strength; it can pull you gently along the shore or it can pull you under and wrap you in the waves.
The images in this series are all taken from the water, changing the perspective of traditional waterscapes and landscapes. From Turner’s stormy seas to Sugimoto’s calm horizons, water has been a theme throughout the history of art, and has been a consistent theme throughout photography’s own history. The constant rhythm, movement, and immensity of the ocean are a source of reassurance to many. Moving water of all varieties is hypnotic in its calling, thrilling, and yet calming; It is for these reasons that the sea draws me in.
About the Artist
Selina Lamberti received her BFA in photography from the Corcoran School of Art Design in Washington, D.C., in 2008. Submerged is a
series of photographs taken while being submersed in water, and were her senior thesis project.
