"New Line Continued" 2018
Oil on canvas
77' x 101' inches / 196 x 257 cm
Hugh Arnold
b. 1956, Chester, United Kingdom
Hugh Arnold was born in Chester and trained as an actor before being enticed into the world of photography by the light and natural outdoor elements of Australia. After being offered a contract by Australian Vogue he returned to Europe , doing his first job exclusively with Armani clothes for Per Lui and Lei with Franca Sozzani in Milan. More pages followed which were the tickets to open his artistic doors worldwide. He met Hamish Bowles at the collections in Paris who asked him to shoot Carla Bruni for Harpers and Queen , subsequently working for various Vogue's, Tatler, Conde Nast Traveller ,Glamour etc. Soon after he started shooting worldwide beauty campaigns for L'Oreal, Pantene, Wella, Max Factor, Nivea, La Perla, etc
Over the last months, Hugh's exploration of photography as an art form has allowed him to develop creatively without commercial constraint, photographing "Underwater Nudes." He learnt to Scuba Dive in Egypt, equipped himself with the best quality equipment and flew to Australia to pursue his mission.
Cold Antarctic currents , poor visibility, Box Jellyfish and Sharks all conspired to push him further afield to Fiji where he shot until storms made diving impossible. Lured by the Tuna rearing pens in Gozo, an island off Malta, he continued his mission, this time with a model and ex swimmer Nika Lauriatis and Polina Barbasova who had been with him in Fiji.
He has devoted the last 12 months exclusively to this project,exploring the different subliminal stages of human development from womb to womanhood.
He has received much critical acclaim for his recent exhibitions at the Hilton Asmus Contemporary Gallery in Chicago and the Mead Carney Gallery in London. Further exhibitions are planned at the Mead Carney in Porto Montenegro.