Lucas Leo Catalano, Tirtha Tirtha (TRAVEL 2025)

The series Tirtha Tirtha is a portrait of Bali taken from a perspective that is sceptical of there being an "authentic" Bali. Challenging the outdated visual identity of Bali that has become synonymous with tourism propaganda and post-colonial vanity. Instead, exploring the ineffable feeling that being in Bali uniquely evokes. A sensation the photographs conjure by framing water as a metaphor for the omnipresent experience of Balinese-ness in everything on the island. An elemental force that once inspired the historical inhabitants of the region to create the religion of water, Agama Tirtha. A natural force found behind the sways of current affairs, behind the boons and banes of tourism – in between tropical downpours, agrarian flooding, chlorinated hotel pools, sea salt rash, weathered independence monuments, and grand water purification ceremonies.

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