In the crowded world of contemporary visual art, Christy Lee Rogers is a name that’s shining through. The Honolulu-born artist has redefined what photography can be; turning it into a living, breathing, almost painterly experience. Revered for her distinctive underwater technique, Rogers captures choreographed bodies suspended in motion, transforming the refraction of light and water into a luminous tableau that feels both timeless and alive.
Her images (at once ethereal and dramatic) have drawn comparisons to the great Baroque masters: Caravaggio, Rubens, Goya. Yet Rogers’ art is entirely her own. A modern-day Baroqueist working in both still and moving images, she wields light the way those painters wielded pigment—crafting worlds of vulnerability, sensuality, chaos, and grace.
Discovering a New Language in Water
Born in Honolulu, OÊ»ahu, Rogers grew up in a musical family without television, a childhood that invited creativity. By high school, she was experimenting with 35mm photography and Super 8 film, certain she’d one day be a filmmaker like Fellini.
“His films transported me—the compositions, the dreamlike chaos, the bold poetic messages,” she says. “And growing up in HawaiÊ»i, the ocean was always my second home.” That deep connection to water would later become both muse and medium.
When Rogers first submerged her camera, something clicked. “It felt like discovering a new language,” she says. “The way light moves through water, the way it transforms everything—it opened up a whole new world for me. Now, it’s my creative partner. I can’t imagine making art without it.”
It felt like discovering a new language. The way light moves through water, the way it transforms everything—it opened up a whole new world for me.
Her process involves staging and choreographing models underwater at night, using carefully directed lighting to evoke chiaroscuro effects reminiscent of Baroque painting. “Light felt alive,” she says. “It’s a character in the image, shaping the story itself. What’s left in shadow—the parts that remain hidden—are just as important as what’s revealed. That sense of mystery gives the work its power.”
Modern Baroque Painted with Light
Rogers’ imagery feels drenched in the drama of Baroque and Rococo art, yet her approach is entirely contemporary. “There’s something intoxicating about the Baroque period,” she explains. “That combination of passion, excess, intensity, light, and motion—it feels alive, almost like it’s reaching out and pulling me into its world.”
Her favorite example of that era’s beauty? “A Perseus and Andromeda painting by Rubens,” she says. “The love story is fierce, desperate, and yet tender all at once.” That same emotional range—the divine and the desperate—runs through her own work.
James Cameron & Muses of Avatar
While water and light are her materials, music and film are her muses; from Muse to Ludovico Einaudi to Danny Elfman, the medium holds a power over her. A power that’s shared by film—which has helped shape her vision.
That cinematic vision eventually led her to a kindred spirit in James Cameron, whose own fascination with water defines his filmmaking.
“It started when Jim reached out to commission a photograph for his wife,” Rogers says. “We connected over our shared experience of working in water.” Their collaboration—Muses of Avatar—merged her underwater Baroque aesthetic with the spirit of Avatar: The Way of Water, raising funds for ocean conservation. “Working with Jim was deeply inspiring,” she adds. “He understands that creativity is raw and instinctive but also worth refining until it shines.”
Myths, Legends, and What’s Next
Rogers continues to push her practice into new realms. On November 29, she’ll debut her latest collection, Myths and Legends, at W1 Curates on Oxford Street in London—an immersive multimedia experience in collaboration with Studio 74.
It’s an exhibition that promises to blend mythic storytelling with her signature play of light, motion, and emotion—a reminder that beauty, like water, is meant to move.
