HAWAIIAN STYLE MAGAZINE                                       APRIL 2008

Marine currents drive life around the world. Whales migrate to the waters off the Hawaiian Islands following the rich sea broth that feeds them, just as all sea creatures are directed by the push and pull of the vast ocean.
 
Photographer Bruna Stude has also felt the pull of the ocean. Born in Croatia on the shores of the Dalmation Coast, Stude worked as a newspaper and radio reporter until she left Croatia in 1987 to pursue the call of the sea. She became a freelance stock photographer for many years, traversing the world as her love for all thing acquatic grew as deep as the ocean itself.
 
By 2002, the currents directed Stude to her Kaua‘i home. It is in Hawaii that she has perfected her craft as an underwater photographer, producing a copious amount of images each year.
 
Stude’s camera of choice is the Nikonos 35mm with a 35mm Nikon F4 and F5, set inside a Sea & Sea Housing. For dry images of shells, she uses a digital Nikon D1x. She notes that she only uses Nikon equipment, as the older lenses are always compatible with her newer cameras. In this next year she hopes to modify the Sea & Sea Housing to allow her to use the Nikon D1X, and thus transition to a completely digital workspace.
 
“I like to use natural light in most of my pictures,” she says, “and use the Sea & Sea strobes only in extreme underwater close-ups.”
 
Recently her work was collected for publication in In-Sight, a trade paperback book, filled with the rich black and white images that are Stude’s trademark (for a complete review see the HSBookshelf in this issue).

Stude summarizes her journey and the environment that she loves this way: “When I photograph in the ocean, I look to find and capture the magnificence of that which is common and universal to it. By illuminating the extraordinary, I try to create awareness and inspire reverence.”

You can see more of Bruna Stude’s work at www.HawaiianStyleMagazine.com or visit www.artbeneath.com or www.brunastude.com.

In-Sight  (review)           

THE GARDEN ISLAND       JUNE 2007               "THALASSA"

An ethereal vision of life beneath the liquid surface

by Keya Keita - The Garden Island
Posted: Thursday, May 31, 2007 - 11:07:15 pm HST

Self-taught photographer and Kaua‘i resident Bruna Stude has captured a lifetime of adoration for the ocean in her fine art photography.

Antonio Arellanes of TimeSpace Gallery in Hanapepe is proud to present Stude’s first Kaua‘i show, again showing the gallery’s commitment to contemporary fine artists living and working on the island. Stude’s photographic work is hauntingly beautiful and dream-like.

Growing up in Croatia, Stude spent summers on the fantastically stunning Dalmatian coast of the Adriatic sea. “My earliest memories are of water, and my first love — diving. I wondered about the world beneath the ocean’s surface before I could ride a bike or write. The experience was magical, even off an old fisherman’s pier at New Castle in Croatia, where I used to spend my summers,” writes Stude.

Studying law before deciding to chase the wave of travel on the open seas, Stude always carried a camera. Working as a crew member on luxury yachts, Stude was able to travel to paradisical locales, often unrecorded by the camera’s lens. Soon the amateur was shooting for New York publications, her images popular in stock and editorial circles, but her fine art was developing under the radar, and it’s this body of work that now drives the artist.

“I am most happy underwater,” said Stude. “It’s the place I feel most comfortable, most free.”

The photography borne from Stude’s sincere feeling of connection with the ocean reflects this intimate knowledge. “I know it seems unusual, with all the blue and green and bright colors in paintings about water I see here, my black and white images might seem strange,” said Stude. “But I found that the deeper I went, the colors would not translate on film, and I’d get images that didn’t look at all like what I saw. Also, the deeper you get, color fades, and there is only light and dark.”

The timeless and gentle quality of water’s shadow and reflection, are seemingly perfect in Stude’s black and white imagery. “Her work is truly an invitation and experience into the universality of the ocean ... and a connection to our sense of oneness with it,” writes Antonio Arellanes.

Movement is another reoccurring theme in Stude’s work. “Water moves, light moves in water, the animals swim ... my videography experience shows up in the still imagery, I try to capture the movement of the ocean.”

The fluidity of the sea is also represented by Stude’s sensitivity to the shape of the creatures she photographs — whether fish or human.

“When I was shooting the local fishermen of the South Pacific, I was so humbled by their natural belonging to the water, so graceful, diving off the boat. They are so wonderfully adapted to the ocean — it was an amazing experience being with them and I think the images that came from that day show that we were able to really communicate, not through language, but our mutual love of the water,” said Stude.

“I feel so fortunate to be able to exhibit this work here, at home, on Kaua‘i,” said Stude. “We (artists) are so grateful for what Antonio has done with the gallery, to give us a chance to share our work, and create a community.” In her time on Kaua‘i, Stude has not been able to shoot as much as she would like. “It’s expensive to organize a dive, but I have done a few, and plan to do more. Chris Turner of Napali Riders took me out to capture a short film about dolphins entitled “Encounter,” off of Polihale Beach. I am so thankful to him.”

The film was juried in the “Art of Digital 2006” at Lyceum Theater in San Diego.

Part of Stude’s love for the ocean has translated into a passion for conservation. “Year after year, we would return to certain spots during yacht voyages, and we would find coral reef bleaching, or shark depletion ... in Croatia, the monk seal is already extinct, but was once plentiful proven by the ancient (500 B.C.E) Greek coins that pictured the monks in silver,” said Stude.

She is hoping to connect to conservation groups and to collaborate efforts using her work to illustrate the beauty and preciousness of the sea.

Chosen as one of the artists in Honolulu’s Academy of Arts “Artists of Hawai‘i 2007” Stude feels honored to be sharing her work with a broader audience at this time in her career. “When I photograph in the ocean, I look to find and capture the magnificence of that which is common and universal to it. I explore the variety of images familiar in the ocean; and try to breathe new life into them. My photographic art is my tribute to ocean life, and my concerned investment in its continued future,” writes Stude.

Working with Lihu‘e’s Tom Niblick at Printmaker, and Arellenas at TimeSpace, Stude feels she has “come home” and looks forward to more opportunities to capture the silent beauty of the fragile water which surrounds our island.

Meet the artist at Art Walk

Reception and opening for Bruna Stude ‘Thalassa’

Where: TimeSpace Gallery — Old Town Hanapepe

When: Tonight from 6-9 p.m.

Free and open to the public

More Info: 335-0094

IN - SIGHT     Book Essay     2007

by Jeff Sulkin -   In-Sight

To “See” is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “…to get knowledge or impression through use of the eyes…”.  To “look” is defined only as “…to direct one’s eyes…”.  When we are able to really “see”, we find the opportunity for this knowledge, for awareness and understanding.  That is very different from merely “looking”, which leaves a condition of (emotional) distance or detachment. 

“Seeing” provides insight.   Bruna Stude is a person who is always in a state of profound “seeing”.  As with all truly important artists, her art helps her to “see”, and gives insight.  As a person and an artist, she does not remain apart from her life and her subjects; but rather she actively becomes a part of what is around her.  She seeks to eliminate distance, both physically and emotionally, and succeeds in removing detachment as well.   This artist becomes at home with her subjects, creating a familiarity that is mutual and rare.  It is an artistic accomplishment  not merely of technique (although hers is clearly considerable), but more importantly of a personal commitment to “insight”. In presenting her images, Bruna Stude invites us to join in the relationships she has created in the pursuit of her art.  

This elimination of distance which drives her approach provides the basis of the dramatic and appropriate character of her images.  The knowledge she seeks results from capturing intimate details of both physical form and of moments I space and time. The focus on this detail, on the intimacy that provides, extends from the making of the printing and cropping of the final artwork in the studio.  It is the parts, the pieces, the elements of individual form and geometry that matter most.

To understand Bruna Stude’s work, and to gain real insight and pleasure from her images, it is important to understand this principle.  It allows her to explore and communicate the true essence of what is beautiful and valuable in the world she finds around her. Whether or not it is found underwater is not of primary importance or of sole interest to her. 

Bruna’s artistry comes in no small measure from her willingness to focus her commitment and develop her artistic skills so as to provide specific and powerful connections to the world around us, to provide “insight”.  

Jeff Sulkin Sulkin / Secant Gallery

Bergamot Station Art Center

Santa Monica, California  

BENEATH     Show Essay April 2006

by Jeff Sulkin “Beneath”

Art-making begins with choices; what the artist chooses to see, What the artist chooses to see and then to communicate to us. The diverse mediums and tools of art are secondary; whether a brush, a pen, a camera. First must come the will and commitment to see; to look beyond the obvious, to look through the surface, to look beneath.

This commitment is shared by all important artists, including Wayne Hanson and Bruna Stude. It is a commonality between them, underlying the variety of their subject matter. One sees into the underbelly of the urban environment. One sees into the underwater ocean environment. Both of these artists look deeply.

Both of these artists meet their subjects on their own terms, engage with them in their own surroundings, and gain their acceptance. Through this process a deeper perception becomes available.

This perception goes beyond the apathy of everyday awareness, finding grace and dignity in its subjects. This art succeeds in eliminating the unfamiliarity and ignorance which makes these subjects into endangered spieces.

In presenting what is under the veneer of the city and under the surface of the sea (both sometimes dark and sometimes glittering), these artworks are not documentation, but rather they represent an artistic choice to illuminate. The beauty which results from these artists’ skills is easy to see. The value of their commitment takes more effort to appreciate.

So join Wayne Hanson and Bruna Stude,
And look “Beneath”.

Jeff Sulkin
Sulkin / Secant Gallery
April, 2006