Eva Kircz, 2001

As a very small child I lived in Holland, close to the sea and later close to the "polders" where the water of the canals reflects the fast moving clouds and the fiercely blue sky in summer and the spindly, leafless, silhouetted branches of the trees in the long grey winters. I spent a large part of my childhood outside, watching nature, and watching the dance of light upon the water.

Watching the water, I saw a myriad of "paintings" flicker across its glossy surface. Perfect compositions, unexpected colour combinations. The wind painted ripples in geometrical patterns on the skin of the water. The movement of the water itself caused harmonious formations. The rays of the sun, refracted by the water, exploded into tiny rainbow coloured flashes lasting a fraction of a second, disappearing, coming back in another spot, disappearing again and coming back transfigured in endless play.

There would be no use in trying to paint all that. But the camera, with its speed, I wondered, could it capture that splendour?

This series of photographs is the result of many years and many hours patiently watching the water. At the coast of Mallorca, but also in England and France, Holland and Morocco, Italy, in the US and in India, wherever there is water, in a river or a pond, in the sea or a fountain, even in a rivulet behind a tea stall in the Himalayas.

Eva Kircz, 2001