Kawaguchiko, from the series “half awake and half asleep in the water. 2003

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Karatsu, from the series “half awake and half asleep in the water. 2004

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Momochi, from the series “half awake and half asleep in the water. 2003

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Oarai, from the series “half awake and half asleep in the water. 2006

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Mekari, from the series “half awake and half asleep in the water. 2004

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Japanese photographer ASAKO NARAHASHI began the series “half awake and half asleep in the water” in 2001. These photographs capture coastal scenes in Japan from just below and above the water’s surface.

Using a Nikonos 35mm waterproof film camera, she floats chest deep in the ocean while facing back towards the shore, her camera held half-submerged in the water. By watching the waves without using the viewfinder, the artist times her pictures according to the swells of the ocean tide.

The resulting photographs blend the viewer’s sense of where land, sea, and sky meet, causing beautifully eerie feelings of drowning, suffocation, and isolation. I really like these mysterious disorienting semi-submerged views which give a new perspective on landscape photography. Strangely compelling!