“Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view. It is the soliloquy of a beholding and jubilant soul.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
The other day as the sun was setting, and the enchanting glow of twilight was softly transforming the world, I found myself meditating on how photography, as an art, can be a subtle form of painting with Light.
Shortly, afterwards, I stumbled upon the powerful art work of Egypt-based photographer, Karina Al Piaro, which stirred me to my depths.
This is how Al Piaro describes her mesmerizing art:
I painted before I photographed & I feel my emerging signature body of works as a crossing over ; of light writing…
the Nile itself became my canvas of the infinite.
In her evocative self portrait, above, the artist is a mystic, Light is a prayer mat and everywhere is a vast house of worship.
In exploring her hypnotic work, time slows down, and it’s hard to miss the devotional dimension of her art. Al Piaro inhabits a certain intensity and brings a sensuous spirituality to all she sees and, in turn, shares with the viewer.
This ecstatic quality illumines the miraculous in the everyday and everybody; she sees the Divine in the children she photographs and the Nile river is a sacred, liquid body, too, where they are baptized.
The effect is like a prayer. Here, are further examples of her trance-inducing gaze:
I look forward to deepening my appreciation of this significant artist and invite you to do the same, on Instagram
As a cultural critic, for World Literature Today magazine, and elsewhere, I see it as my role to shed light on artists the general public might not be aware of, as well as to attempt to illuminate why their art matters. I know that I've succeeded in doing my job, when I receive enthusiastic remarks from readers (such as I have with this short post) notifying me that they will explore the art, further.