There’s no denying the beauty and power of ocean waves, but the Paris-based photographer Arnaud Lajeunie makes these natural wonders even more majestic by infusing them with all the colors of the rainbow. For his series Water meets colour, colour meets water, shot at high speed between 2011 and 2014, the photographer used sugar-based, biodegradable dyes that give the waves an added kick of drama.
An essay about the photos on Lajeunie’s website, by Eugenia Lapteva, makes reference to postmodern philosophers like Roland Barthes and Deleuze and Guattari, and elucidates the philosophical implications of these lovely images:
As the colours bleed into the sea, the texture of the water thickens and the motion of the waves is (re)defined, revealing its hidden course and complex networks.The crashing waves, which are carefully contained within the camera frame, pull the viewer into a vortex of frozen shapes and novel configurations that are otherwise indiscernible to the human eye. Arnaud Lajeunie’s photography raises critical questions about the relationship between human beings and nature. Echoing a tradition of interventionist art practice, his work could be read as an experimentation in colour and form, through which the photographer endeavours ambitiously to challenge the natural flux of things and exceed the confines of human perception.
Click through our gallery for a selection of highlights from the series, spotted via Red Eyed N Blue:
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie
Photo credit: Arnaud Lajeunie