By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

FOR photographer Ana Elisa Wassitsch, depicting the beauty of nature and the sea never gets old. The photographer had her first ever exhibit during the recently held Transforming Spaces Art Tour.

She challenged viewers to take a second look at the simplistic beauty of a droplet of water and various forms of sea life. Her work was showcased at the StingRae Gallery, along with other paintings and woodworks in a sea theme.

The Brazil native selected several images from her large collection that were taken in advance of the tour. All of the pictures coincided with the StingRae Gallery’s theme and ranged from sea life to the natural beauty of scenes.

“For the Transforming Spaces exhibition, I chose seven pieces from my existing portfolio, all somehow related to StingRae Gallery’s theme, “The Sea.” All images were printed on watercolour paper and were framed in dark wood.

Out of the seven images, five portray the Bahamian ocean, fauna and flora and are very fluid and soothing: Night Shark, Sand Waves, Banana Leaf, Float and Five Seagulls.

“Two of the pieces, which I personally consider the strongest ones, Sea of Death 1 and Sea of Death 2, portray the grimmer aspect of the theme—the human exploitation of sea life, which is the complete opposite of the calm tranquillity depicted in the former. I purposely chose this ambiguity, not only because I believe all aspects of life are ambiguous, multifaceted, but also because these aspects, good and bad together, are intrinsic to human nature and life,” said Ana.

There are many different ways to interpret the Sea of Death 1 photo, she said.

“I really left it up to the viewer to determine the perspective of the photo. One person said after seeing the photo they felt bad about eating fish because the image shows the inhumanity of killing animals. The image leaves the viewer with many questions,” she told Tribune Arts.

Ana’s ability to tell stories and evoke questions as a result of her creative expressions with the camera sustains her interest in fine art photography. Her love for photography started as a child. She treated it as hobby until 2011 when she decided to leave the banking sector after 15 years to devote her full-time energy to developing photography as a profession. She added commercial photography, as wells as children and family portraits to her portfolio.

“I was honoured to participate in Transforming Spaces, especially because I was at the StingRae Gallery. I love patterns and I love how simple things can become so grandiose if you frame it properly. The natural beauty of the pictures and scenes inspire me. I try to keep in my mind the viewers because art is about the viewers. It is always rewarding to hear what people have to say about your work whether it is good or bad,” said Ana.

The creative process she said involves skimming through thousands of images just to select the best, editing the photos, deciding how big or small the images should be printed and then printing the pictures.

When she is not creating fine art images Ana likes to dabble in painting. It is her hope to produce a piece that combines a photograph with a painting.

“I have to learn more about painting before I can do this. There is so much more than I need to know for this piece to be successful. Sometimes when you are trying to create something with paint, your mind is going in all different directions. When that happens it works for me to get a notepad and draw my ideas out so I do not lose them,” she said.

This process also works for Ana when she has an idea she wants to bring to life with photography.

Ana was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil and moved to the Bahamas in 1993 where she met her husband Peter-Bruce. They currently live in Nassau with their two children.

In December 2012 her work was published for the first time in several newspapers and magazine publications.