His figures cut through the sky, crisply suspended, on their way into the water. Sometimes they are immersed, or watching from a shore, but most often they hang in the air, about to split the drink in two. For Lithuanian photographer Vidas Biveinis, water represents a changing emotion, expressive of anything from fear to humor. Speaking eagerly in a mixture of English and his native language, he turns his large blue eyes toward his translator for words or phrases.
"Sometimes feelings are freedom, sometimes they are hidden, and sometimes the water breaks the wall and releases our feelings," says Biveinis. "And these feelings can be a joke, like in the seven-day competition, or our secrets can be our fears."
The subject of his main series, "7th Day" (2007), the seven-day competition is a jumping game that the artist played in his childhood. The photos received critical acclaim in Lithuania and led to an invitation to the Moscow International Festival of Art earlier this year. Now they are part of a solo exhibition taking place until Oct. 11 at the one-year-old Gallery Strenger in Azabu Juban. Taken in his hometown of Ingalina, the black-and- white prints capture children diving and twirling and cannonballing, solo and in groups.