Silent Blue #1, 2018, from the series WATER 2013-2019
44 1/8 x 32 inches (112 x 81 cm)

Written by Max Wiener

Photo Edited by Olivia Castillo

A nature image with the proper lighting and angle can transport you to a world of serenity and tranquility. Scenes of calm blue water can make you feel like you’re drifting with the tide. Czech-born artist Jitka Hanzlová’s photography, does just that. Her new exhibit with Yancey Richardson, Water that Dreams, brings a quiet aura to capturing Earth’s natural beauty and places. The series opened on April 13 and is scheduled to run until May 26.

Silent Blue #5, 2018, from the series WATER 2013-2019
18 3/4 x 14 3/8 inches (47.6 x 36.5 cm)

It’s a common notion that the ocean is an unknown part of the world, a phrase that evokes fear and dark emotions and often casts it in a negative light. Hanzlová’s images, on the other hand, offer the other side to this binary. Her colors are bright and soothing, and her subjects are non-threatening. It almost briefly introduces the serenity that the ocean can offer and does so with a delightfully blissful tinge. Each image is a sedative, and you can hear the silence. In many prominent wildlife photos, the subject (the animal itself) sometimes appears to be gazing right into the camera's lens, aware of their disturbance to the ecosystem.

Wouldn’t it feel freer if it seemed as if we were invisible? Hanzlová answers this question best, capturing incredible scenery seemingly without disturbance. It feels like we’re one of the fish themselves. They don’t notice that anything is there. Thus, the image is free. We see a foreign side of the world as if we’re there and coexisting within it.

Ur #4, 2018, from the series WATER 2013-2019
22 13/16 x 16 15/16 inches (58 x 43 cm)

*Human Light #1*, 2015 (from the series *WATER 2013-2019*). Courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson, New York.

Hanzlová does a fantastic job contributing to this serenity through her use of color. An intense splash of color can feel like an acid trip gone wrong, but here the earth tones and the subdued nature of the palette ease you into the euphoria of it all. Her clouds gently wag their finger at you, inviting you to join the serenity of their enchanted world. Her perspective makes it feel like you’re lying on an open field, gazing at the sky. Each puffy little scene sings with heavenly ecstasy.

In the age of climate change, photographs like Hanzlová’s are significant. Each picture serves as a reminder that we can all save the planet and preserve our homes. With Earth Day coming up on the 22nd, let this be a reminder ahead of time that we have little time on this lovely planet. Let’s treat her kindly.