“The Landscapes of the Body,” a photographic series by Karin Rosenthal, explores the profound connection between the human form and nature. Initiated in 1975, the project captures nudes in water, creating dreamlike images that merge the psychological with the physical. Rosenthal’s work highlights water’s elemental and life-giving qualities, emphasizing the unity of human flesh and the natural world. Inspired by her experiences on the Greek islands, the series evolved to include reflections and abstract forms, maintaining a focus on the visceral and metaphysical interplay between body and nature.
Karin Rosenthal’s passion for photographing nudes emerged from her love of water, a source of meditation and tranquility. In her “Nudes in Water” series, begun in 1975, Rosenthal sought to depict the human form in water to create images with psychological, dreamlike, and emotional resonance. She believed that water, the source of all life, should have a density akin to flesh, symbolizing a cauldron of creation and establishing a profound visual connection between the body and nature. These motivations became the foundation of the entire series.
In 1979, while looking out the airplane window over Santorini, Rosenthal saw a woman’s nude form emerging from the water, illuminated by the afternoon sunlight. This moment crystallized her realization that the body and the land were one. This insight came during her alumna fellowship at Wellesley College, where she spent a year on Crete and Lesbos. “The biggest breakthrough for me was that fellowship,” Rosenthal recalls. “I was able to fail for a couple of months until I finally stumbled on the way I wanted to work, and then it all fell into place.” The result was her Greek Nudes in Water series, which she expanded during two more visits in the summers of 1980 and 1981.
For over 40 years, the human figure in water has remained the focus of Rosenthal’s largely black-and-white work. Her inspiration to photograph nudes in the water began in 1971 when she and friends rented summer houses in New England. Dubbed “the mermaid” due to her frequent swimming, Rosenthal found swimming to be a sensual, meditative experience. “Warm, satiny water is very sensual. Swimming is a meditation. It’s also like being in a womb, touched all over by water,” she observes. Still water reflections also fascinated her, creating a calming effect that she could not explain.
Initially more interested in bathtubs for their reflective properties, Rosenthal shifted her focus to lakes and ponds. In her 1977 photo, “Flying-Floating Nude,” she captured a model in a lake, creating an image that transformed from deathlike to empowered when viewed upside down. This paradox of life and death, coupled with the visual density of flesh and water, became a recurring theme in her work.
Rosenthal prefers black-and-white photography for its abstract quality, saying, “Being direct has never been my intention with the nude. I’m not interested in the specifics of a person’s body, but rather the human concepts evoked in the photograph—the psychological, metaphysical, and spiritual.” Independent gallerist Nicky Akehurst, who has represented Rosenthal’s work since the nineties, notes, “She has a unique visual signature… She has never allowed current influences or market forces to interfere with her vision.”
In the fellowship photos from Greece, Rosenthal captured reflections and light in a way that fused conscious and unconscious realities. Her work, continuing on Cape Cod, explored these themes further, utilizing woods and dunes to create infrared images that blend the body with nature.
Rosenthal’s approach to photography, characterized by transformations, paradoxes, and surreal elements, challenges viewers to see beyond the surface, offering a unique perspective on the interplay between the human form and the natural world.
