Agua Nacida at Mead Carney Fine Art, the first London exhibition by photographer Hugh Arnold, offers an evocative exploration of nature, beauty and sexuality interpreted through an ambitious and highly accomplished series of underwater nudes.

Overcoming the considerable technical difficulties of photographing underwater, Arnold’s models Polina Barbasova and Nika Lauraitis are freed from the restrictions of gravity and, floating weightlessly, they imbue this latest work with an ethereal, otherworldly beauty.

‘Gravity restricts us above water, but under water it’s almost like a fairytale world. The colours, the light, even our breath - which we can’t physically see above water - add wonderful dimensions.’ - Hugh Arnold

Drawing on the photographer’s own close connection to the sea, Agua Nacida makes use of the essential, liberating quality of water to frame a narrative about human existence. Each visually arresting image marks the symbolic transition from the cocoon of the womb, to carefree childhood, to the discovery of adolescence, the sensuality of womanhood and the pain of birth, depicting each stage in the process through the acutely observed physical actions of his models.

‘The moment you submerge yourself in water, no matter who you are, the ego disappears and you touch the true essence of your nature. It’s like going back to the beginning, being reborn.’ - Hugh Arnold