fish

Posts tagged
with fish

Photography

Jewels in the Night Sea: Luminous Plankton Captured in the Dark Waters off the South Coast of Japan

Japanese marine life photographer Ryo Minemizu focuses his lens on some of the tiniest and most abundant life forms in our oceans. His series Phenomenons explores the diverse beauty and extravagant colors of plankton, and is shot amongst the dark waters of the Osezaki sea near Mount Fuji and other coasts around Japan, the Philippines and Maldives. To capture the small creatures Minemizu sets his shutter speed to just a fraction of a second, while ensuring that his own movements don’t disturb the surrounding organisms.

“Plankton symbolize how precious life is by their tiny existence,” he explains. “I wanted other people to see them as they are in the sea, so it was my motivation from the beginning to shoot plankton underwater, which is quite a challenge. Most plankton are small, and their movements are hard to predict.”

His solo exhibition Jewels in the Night Sea begins a three-city tour at Canon Gallery in Ginza, Tokyo from August 20-29, 2018. It will then move to Cannon galleries in Nagoya and Osaka from September 6-12 and September 20-26, 2018. You can see more of Minemizu’s underwater photography on Instagram and Twitter. Select prints from his Phenomenons series are available in his online shop. (via This Isn’t Happiness)

Art Photography

Betta Fish Imitate Elegantly Posed Dancers in New Portraits by Visarute Angkatavanich

Thai photographer Visarute Angkatavanich (previously) creates richly hued portraits that appear more like staged dance images than animal photography. It is only when staring directly at the bug-eyed expressions of his subjects that one understands they are staring at a fish and not a costumed ballerina. Angkatavanich photographs domesticated betta fish against white and black backgrounds to isolate their natural shades and present the illusion that they are moving through space. Late last year he released a book of Siamese fighting fish portraits titled Betta Paradiso. You can view more of his recent fish photography on 500px.

Art

The Coralarium: An Immersive Sculptural Installation Semi-Submerged in the Indian Ocean

The Coralarium is the newest aquatic sculpture by artist Jason deCaires Taylor (previously here and here). Built in a large developed coral lagoon in the Maldives, the semi-submerged installation is positioned so both human and marine visitors can interact with sculptural elements on the skyline, inter-tidal waterline, and seabed.

To reach the Coralarium, island guests traverse about 500 feet (150 meters) of shallow water, seascaped with underwater poplars and endemic corals. About 20 feet (6 meters) tall, the open-air stainless steel cube is designed based on natural coral structures and allows tidal water and marine life to pass through. Within the structure, which provides some refuge from the ocean’s currents, are several figurative sculptures that merge human, plant, and coral shapes, based on endemic species of the island and its surrounding reefs. Additional sculptures sit and stand atop the cube’s roof to unite the interior elements with the horizon.

The aquatic destination is accessible via small group tours led by marine biologists that are on staff at the Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi resort. You can see more of Taylor’s work on Facebook and Instagram, and the video below shows the creation of the Coralarium. (via Web Urbanist)

Art Craft

Complex Cuts Form New Detailed Paper Sea Creatures, Flowers, and Reptiles

Japanese cut paper artist Riki Fukuda (previously) continues to create mind-bogglingly detailed designs using simple tools: a cutting mat, blade, and paper. The artist shares her in-progress and finished works on Twitter, including the pencil sketches that she cuts into for her final works. More recently, Fukuda has been working on smaller-scale creations and experimenting with holographic paper. You can stay up to date with new work by following her on Twitter.

 

Photography

Underwater Realm: Black and White Photos Capture Breathtaking Moments Amongst Life in the Sea

Mexican photographer and anthropologist Anuar Patjane captures black and white moments of life underwater as a way to bring awareness to a part of the world most do not get a chance to see. Patjane searches for awe-inspiring snapshots to connect viewers with images of fish and other underwater animals. He hopes his photographs create an empathy towards these creatures and their environment while also expressing the impact that our choices have on their trajectory as species of the sea.

“With the [Underwater Realm] series, I try to drive our attention towards the beauty of our oceans a a truth usually unnoticed: We are brutally overfishing in our oceans, and our attention should be concentrated on the way we fish, as well as what we eat from the ocean,” he explains in an artist statement about the series. “We see and care when a forest is gone because it is visible to everybody, but we don’t see when we destroy life underwater.”

Patjane not only captures life underwater, but landscapes from all over the globe that may often go unnoticed. You can see more of his series, including images shot in Antarctica and Iceland, on his website and Instagram.

Animation

A Stop Motion Fishing Excursion Filmed on a Bedroom Desk by Guldies

Swedish animator Guldies (previously) just released his latest stop motion short titled Going Fishing. The entire clip was filmed in his bedroom on a desk requiring 2,500 photographs shot with a Canon EOS 600D. The attention to detail in giving weight to small objects like the bucket, wood, and bobber is extremely well done. See more of Guldies’ work on his YouTube channel. (via Twisted Sifter)

Design

Anatomical Fish Zip Bags by Japanese Designer Keiko Otsuhata

Japanese designer Keiko Otsuhata has brought a new dimension to the popularity of fish as food by turning the sea creature into a functional-out-of-water zip bag. In Japan, fried fish (especially mackerel) is often seen on bar menus, and is prepared by splitting the fish through its stomach and frying it flat. The sight of fried fish is common visual vocabulary in Japan, but Otsuhata was curious about what the fish looked like in its pre-fried state, so she bought one from the grocery store, took photographs, and made it into a zip bag.

Tokyo-based Otsuhata is also a writer for the Japanese website Daily Portal Z, where she often shares her creative process as she explores pop culture and humor. You can see how she made the original fish bag, as well as a pair of pigeon shoes.

Three varieties of Otsuhata’s fish bags—kinme, saury, and sea bream—are available in The Colossal Shop.