Lev L. Spiro
Lev L. Spiro captures water in its mystical form. There is a calm that holds strength. A stillness that carries motion. His images do not imitate nature; they manage to meet the invisible connection between flora and fauna. Fog. Ice. Reflection. Surface. What we see is not staged, not embellished, but held.
The works reverse the usual hierarchy between humans and the environment. There is no dominance here. Water leads. It takes the centre stage. The compositions remind us that power can be quiet, that transformation doesn’t always begin with noise. The eye is pulled into mirrored depths, into layers of air and water. What begins as the surface becomes space. The captured landscapes feel older than memory, and they do not wait for meaning to be given. Instead, they offer something more ambiguous: a visual space in which we can feel both peace and estrangement. Through his images, nature offers moments of beauty but does not explain itself. The viewer is left to search.
Each frame is a scene with no fixed narrative. The viewer is invited to enter and to place their own meaning. There is room to breathe and drift. Lev’s use of light and tone builds a visual atmosphere that feels both weightless and full. This openness is where the connection to the theme of water becomes strongest. The works do not show water’s force through waves or storms, but through presence. Lev emphasizes the strength of still water and the continuous soft roar of falling H2O. These images do not shout; they wait, and in that quiet, they make space for us to stay.
His approach shares the precision and restraint that can be found in works of Imogen Cunningham. Both artists honour form by not interfering with it. There is trust in what’s already there. This approach to art creates a sense of duality that runs through Spiro’s work, between awe and distance, clarity and mystery. He invites us to stay inside these contradictions and, in doing so, returns the viewer to something often forgotten: the act of looking with uncertainty.
A career in film and television shapes Lev L. Spiro’s vision. His work has appeared in solo and group exhibitions across North America, as well as in publications that value stillness as much as clarity. He now teaches photography with a focus on emotional storytelling through the natural world. As a director, he has long practiced the art of timing; the framing of breath between action and reaction. This cinematic sensitivity is reflected in his photography. There’s atmosphere instead of story—presence instead of plot.
Lev L. Spiro is the Gold Artist of the ArtAscent Water call for artists. To see the full body of work and profile, get a copy of the 2025 ArtAscent Art & Literature Journal Water issue.
