AKA ISLAND 2018: Okinawa, Japan — Above and Below the Sea: 3

AKA ISLAND 2018 is a photographic record of a small Okinawan island encountered at several levels: from a ferry, from the road, from the air, and from beneath the sea.The journey begins at Tomari Port in Naha and moves through clear water, coral, dark layered rock, the bridge and harbor, a tatami room, local meals, rinse tubs, beach debris, Kerama deer, and the everyday work of a diving island. Rather than presenting Aka as an untouched paradise, the book keeps beauty and infrastructure in the same frame.Personal connections led photographer HELLOUG to the island: a former coworker living there and a Japanese diver first met in El Nido who was temporarily working at Dive Gobies. Across three days in July 2018, the photographs build a portrait of a place where sea, movement, and daily life remain inseparable.Photographed by HELLOUG on Aka Island, Okinawa, July 6-8, 2018.