Beautiful Photos Capture the Majesty of Waves Cresting and Crashing

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All of his life, French photographer Pierre Carreau has been fascinated by the shape and movement of waves. It makes sense, then, that much of his photography revolves around the project “AquaViva” — a series that captures the majesty of waves in action.

Raised in a family of photographers, painters and sculptors, you would think he always knew what he wanted to do, but Carreau wasn’t always a photographer. He started his professional life a business major working in the IT industry, and only later gave in to his dual passions: photography and the ocean. Now he and his wife live on the Caribbean island of St Barth where he spends his days taking beautiful photos of waves big and small.

Don’t be deceived by the simplicity of the subject, however. The “liquid sculptures,” as he calls them, take a lot of work to get right. Each photo is the result of great gear and hundreds of tries, eventually leading to the perfect combination of shapes and light reflection. In his words:

Digital photography and the best camera/lens are absolutely necessary to create my images. Technology allows me to make it possible

Broken down into Microwave, Multiwave and Waterpower categories, each of the many pictures showcased on his website look as much like glass sculptures as they do photographs. Here is a selection of photos from each of the three categories:

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To see more photos of Carreau’s majestic waves frozen in beautiful shapes, head over to his website by clicking here.

(via Colossal)


Image credits: Photographs by Pierre Carreau and used with permission

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