Agua Nacida Water Born: Modern and Contemporary Art of the Arab World and Iran

Whilst living in the Balearic island of Ibiza, an island renowned for the healing properties of its water, world-renowned photographer, Hugh Arnold, was moved to follow a new direction in his work. Inspired by the limitless possibilities of the three-dimensional, weightless medium of underwater photography, he embarked upon a 12-month adventure that would see him travel the world to explore man’s relationship with the sea. Arnold began his journey in Australia, but cold Antarctic currents, poor visibility, box jellyfish and sharks all conspired to push Arnold further afield to Fiji where he shot until storms made diving impossible. Then, lured by the Tuna rearing pens in Gozo, an island off Malta, he travelled there to complete his mission. The result is this luxurious 368-page book, which takes us on a journey to explore the ocean, and ourselves, in a totally new way. It is an evocative and breath-taking volume that reflects the ocean as a feminine element, captured in Arnold’s stunning images of underwater nudes. Immersed in the playfulness and sensuality of water, the swimmers, Nika Lauriatis and Polina Barbasova, express the cycles of Woman through fluidity of movement: the womb’s embrace, growth, discovery, sexuality, and of course, beauty. Arnold’s work provokes and invokes. It arouses reflection and understanding of man’s connection to a greater and larger world.