Kanoa Zimmerman’s work explores the underwater ocean environment, our interaction with it, and its illusionary effects on our perceptions. As a child, he was exposed early to snorkeling, a favored activity shared with his parents in Hawai’i. The family also spent time in Iowa studying and practicing meditation, which enriched his understanding of and experiences with free diving. As Kanoa says, “I’ve had overlapping experiences with free diving and meditation. The repetition of breathing and diving has a calming effect. There is a dreamlike quality to being underwater, a feeling of being removed from yourself.”
Kanoa attended The New School University in New York and the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, CA. He has exhibited in Honolulu, San Francisco, New York, Paris, Sydney, Melbourne, Osaka, Fukuoka and Tokyo. Kanoa lives and works in San Francisco.