The Curator's Eye

Fish Eye

selected by Mireya Lewin, Eastside art consultant

Eva Sköld, Wenatchee River

The Anableps series refers to a species of four-eyed fish of the same name that can simultaneously see above and below the water’s surface. This ongoing series of limited-edition archival pigment prints is conceived and executed by the Swedish-born, Kirkland-based photographer Eva Sköld Westerlind.In 2005, Westerlind switched from using a homemade pinhole camera, shooting in an indoor studio and developing black-and-white images in awet darkroom, to a sophisticated state-of-the-art underwater digital camera, working exclusively outdoors and printing the images on a high-resolution color printer.

She was inspired by the Pacific Northwest’s bountiful natural backdrop, in particular its rich and diverse water sources, reminiscent of her childhood on the Baltic Sea.The detailed exploration of light, color and form in her photographs is full of raw wonder. The surreal qualities of her images are based on visual contradictions. In Wenatchee River (above), her camera lens captures the smooth water surface from the point of view of the Anablep fish. The frozen water in the shape of a bubble is both ephemeral and concrete, like a piece of glass, delicate yet resilient.

–Mireya Lewin