Sandra Vaka’s Jugs series (2016–2018) delves into the intersection of water, technology, and the materiality of photography, evoking a sense of transgression that harks back to childhood memories of underwater photography. In this series, Vaka uses water not just as a subject, but as an active participant in the creation of the images. She draws with water on computer screens displaying digital images of water landscapes, and then photographs the screens analogically. The water droplets on the screens magnify the pixels, exposing what is typically an invisible, neutral surface and making them an integral part of the image itself. These droplets, together with the outlines of jugs that emerge in the compositions, give the series its name.

The jug, as a container, represents a foundational technology in human civilization—essential for storing and transporting water, a key element in humanity’s liberation from nature. Vaka’s choice to title each work after commercial water brands—Imsdal, Evian, Smart Water—highlights the commodification of a basic necessity, situating the work at the intersection of the natural and commercial cycles. This series suggests a tension between the fluid and the fixed, the ephemeral and the static. Just as a jug captures and contains water, photography captures and preserves fleeting moments in a two-dimensional form. However, Vaka’s work challenges the durability of the photographic medium by allowing it to be overtaken by the very element it seeks to capture—the wet, erosive force of water.