Double Exposures on the Coast of Chile by Brooke Fitzwater

Today, we’re featuring a beautiful double exposure series from film photographer Brooke Fitzwater. Here are a few words from Brooke about the series and combining her loves of photography and marine biology…

I have two main passions in my life: marine biology and photography. Both have always fascinated me, and, for years, I have strived to combine my two loves into one form.

I have also always been enamored by double exposure photographs and equally enamored by film photography. After years of yearning to accomplish both, I finally had the opportunity to do so.

Over the past four years, I have been traversing back and forth to Chile. It began as a small 10 day trip with my university and became something so much greater. I found myself longing for the ocean I had grown to love and the people and culture that I had discovered, and, before I knew it, I kept returning during my summer breaks. After completing my undergraduate degree in Biology, I returned to Chile, but this time for much longer. I have been here since July 2017, and I have had the experience to grow as a scientist, person, and photographer.

Before leaving for Chile this time, I bought myself a graduation present in the form of a beautiful Canon A-1 and vowed to teach myself how to use it. I’m only four rolls in and already obsessed. Film has a look unlike any other medium: the colors and focus are so dreamy and beautiful. There is something truly special about using something from so many years ago to create new art, and there is truly nothing like seeing your photographs for the first time after they are developed.

I recently received a generous grant from Two Photon art to perform a project I had been toying around with for a long time. I wanted to combine my love of film and double exposures with my love of marine biology and the people who work at the marine station where I am currently located. The project seeks to personify the people who work with the sea while visually connecting them with it. As marine biologists, we are so intimately connected to the ocean that we study, and it becomes a part of us. However, the people who perform important work in marine biology are often overlooked or neglected, and I wanted to showcase these dedicated individuals.

This project features portraits of the people at the marine station (Estacion Costera de Investigaciones Marinas or “ECIM”) overlaid with vistas of the sea. It connects them with their passion. Each image is unique and not one came out the same as the other, which I love about film. The film helps to capture the intimacy and rareness of the connection to the ocean.

My hope is that this series will reveal the diversity of people who work in the field of marine biology. We are all so different in such a special way, and yet we are all connected through our passion: the ocean.

Analog cameras and films used: Canon A-1 (Find at KEH Camera or eBay) | Kodak Portra 400 (Find on Amazon)

Connect with Brooke: Website | Instagram | Twitter

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