Snorkeler (After Misrach), Maui, Hawaii 2011

This photograph, “Snorkeler (After Misrach), Maui, Hawaii,” by David Burdeny is full of dreamy light and plays with the edge between abstraction and figuration. I wonder about the artist standing, waiting, watching the snorkeler, probably sweating in the sun, trying to capture the perfect moment with their lens. The blues of the water and the sky almost blend together, and that human figure is so small, swallowed up by the vastness. It reminds me of Hiroshi Sugimoto's seascapes, but here, there's this tiny human element that adds a whole other layer. The real question is, what does it feel like to be that person in the water? Free-floating in the turquoise, with the whole ocean beneath you? The painting is simple, but I can feel the artist asking, "What does it mean to be alive in this world?" And you know, that's a question worth asking again and again.