The Ones That Didn't Get Away

Artist and author James Prosek spent the past three years traveling the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean, from Cape Cod to Cape Verde, landing fish and watching them get caught by hook, net, and—in the case of a swordfish and a bluefin tuna—harpoon. All this in the name of research: Prosek painted life-size portraits of his quarry in the moment they emerged from the ocean and appeared, in Prosek’s words, as “swimming mirrors.” The result is a stunning series of images, currently on display at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. For those who want to take the fish home, the paintings have been reproduced in a gorgeous art book, Ocean Fishes (Rizzoli, $40).

Go here to see a gallery of paintings from Ocean Fishes.