It all started in the eighties when we fell in love with the island. Year after year we intertwined our life story with it, its heroes became ours, its secret places our sanctuaries, its trees became friends, and its coastline, our permanent inspiration. The cycle “Painting with the Sea” came into being prompted by some photographs from our book “Brijuni through the Camera of an Admirer” (VBZ 2001). The chapter of our photo monograph entitled “The sea for jewellers”, in which we published several rather abstract photographs of the sea, was commended more than others. Since we have dedicated most of our lives to various forms of art and have visited many European galleries, we have seen, among other works, the originals of the most famous abstract painters. Therefore, we considered our subsequent move towards sea abstractions quite natural. Of course, we could not have imagined then what surprises the sea held in store for us. Encouraged by the positive reaction to our sea abstractions which were shot by chance, we embarked on comprehensive photographic research. Little by little, capturing segments of the sea around the island, we discovered that under certain light conditions, and depending on the height of the waves, the depth of the water, the configuration and the colours of the sea bottom and the optimum exposure of the camera, you get, to say the least, surprising photographs. Since the first exhibition at the Croartphoto Club in Zagreb in 2005 to the latest one in the Stančić Gallery in 2009, we have increased the format of the photos we exhibit to 114 x 76cm. We have presented the phenomenon to a great number of curators and art critics, either directly or through emails. You can find some of their reviews on these pages. We have also taken photos of the sea on other islands. The results have been similar. Each phase of our project is exciting in its own way: from assessing the weather conditions, climbing over more or less familiar rocks and exploring beaches in search of the promising colours of the sea bottom to the shooting itself.

With a pilgrim’s passion, we often go to distant places which we think might be rewarding. However, we frequently have to give up any shooting due to unfavourable conditions, too large or too small waves, the absence of colour, too much foam or seaweed, not to mention frustrating reflections and shadows. The last phase – examining and choosing photographs – is certainly the most exciting. It is also the most subjective, since it is then that we decide on the impression that we consider to be the closest to the ideal abstract picture we have in ourselves. This phase is also crucial for the impression we want people to have about this additional potential of the sea. Therefore, we consciously choose the photographs which are not realistic but show the magic of colours and the structure of the “frozen” waves and the decorative distortions of the sea bottom. It goes without saying that our choice reflects our experience and taste in visual arts. We do not give names to the photographs, but catalogue numbers. Naturally, we know that our results do not belong to so-called art photography. What we do is rather record “works of art” which have been continuously created every second for millions of years, under favourable conditions, of course. We also know that we are just mediators who capture and transfer a natural phenomenon by means of a technical gadget into a form which will be recognised and accepted only by an audience sensitised to visual abstractions. Our interest in what happens when taking photographs through the waves, and consequently our cycle “Painting with the Sea”, has outgrown the span of interest photographers usually have for a particular topic. The potentials of this phenomenon have become our permanent photographic preoccupation to which we have dedicated a great part of our lives and energy in the last ten years. The reason is clear and unambiguous: we believe that it offers an endless number of decorative yet genuinely natural potentials. Exploring these ever surprising artistic effects is exciting and certainly worth all the effort.

Višnja Anić

Višnja Anić was born in Zagreb where she attended a gymnasium and graduated in English and German from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. She worked in a large school for foreign languages in Zagreb for thirty years. She is the author of more than fifty prevalently educational books, picture books and publications. She has been interested in photography ever since she attended a photography course in primary school.

Marijan Anić

Marijan Anić was born in Zagreb where he attended a gymnasium and graduated in Philosophy and German from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. He worked in a computer centre of a large construction firm in Zagreb as an information scientist. He experimented with photography in his youth and after a pause reactivated his interest ten years ago. Together with his wife he co-authored the photo monograph “Brijuni through the Camera of an Admirer” in 2001.