How I Got the Shot

The beginning of the mermaid series is mentioned in my artist statement for the project. I was on a yahoo group for local theater. As both a stage photographer and an actress, the best way, once upon a time (not even that long ago), the best way to stay abreast of community happenings was a Yahoo Group.

Theatre Vertigo did a piece called Freakshow. It was about and old time side show. An exploration of otherness, it featured characters like the armless/legless woman, the dog faced girl, and the human salamander. As the end of their run neared, they posted that they’d be striking out of the theater in which they were performing and would need to get rid of the tank for the salamander man, since they had no ability to store it. Would anyone in the community like it?

I thought about it, ” Well, it does fit my aesthetic… I don’t know what I’d do with it, but I have nothing but room. Why not?” I was disappointed to hear I was the second reply and had missed out. That Sunday, I got a called from a frazzled company member: “The person who was first for the tank hasn’t showed up. Can you come and get it now?” The tank weighed a lot and was 3’x3’x6’. But, my very kind neighbor let me his slightly dodgy pickup to go get it. The men of the company carried it out and loaded onto the truck bed. The only question was, how was I going to deal with it when I got home. Lumber, steel, and half in thick glass… it was a beast. So, it sat in the truck in my driveway for a couple of days while I tried to raise the man power to move it.

In that time I heard from my friend Tanya Burka. She is a professional aerialist and contortionist. Her performances are so beautiful that I almost always shed tears to witness them, even as I worked behind the camera to get images for her company, Portland’s Pendulum Aerial Arts. She rang to say that she was going to be back in town. “I owe you some modeling for those images you let me use. Do you have anything in mind?” So, now I had a tank, and a tall and graceful performing artist who was nothing but up for physically taxing work. Well, OK. I figured it was time to make a mermaid tail.

But, the tank was still on my friend’s truck and now I needed it to be in my garage, in short order. Another fantastic neighbor was a wood sculptor and builder. He offered to build me a cradle for the tank, which would allow me to work without lying on my belly while I shot this crazy image. As he quickly put it together, he asked what I was up to. I told him about the mermaid photograph I was planning, and my fabulous model friend. “I’ll get in the tank with the beautiful mermaid.”

BAM. In that moment, my vision moved from image to story. Far back through classical mermaid lore, man + mermaid = dead man. I saw the mermaid in the tank, the carnival barker exhibiting her and wanting her to love him, to embrace him, all while he held her prisoner. She would bide her time. She would pretend. He would drown. Now I needed carnival barker attire along with a mermaid tail.

And, I needed to get the tank off the truck and onto the cradle. With a visit from out of town acquaintances, we secured the fourth set of strong arms needed to do that. I was so grateful, even while I felt slightly like a bad hostess. Then again, who doesn’t want to be involved in a magical creative mermaid project?

Next up was the thrift store. I hunted for something that would make an interestingly stylized mermaid tail. I was afraid I’d strike out, but then I found the ugliest aqua blue, nylon, crocheted tablecloth. It was ghastly, but it had a fishy texture. I sat pondering it. As another shopped passed by, I stretched it across my thigh: “What do you think: mermaid?” She nodded her assent. I took it home and zipped it into a tail shape with an opening for feet so the models could take tiny steps. The extra fabric trailed over feet and toes. I added a pair of silver leggings for smoothness, added fishiness, and modesty. A bunch of cheap fake pearls and a silk scarf as a bandeau, and my mermaid costume was ready. Of course the mermaid needed trailing tresses. I had just the wig: it was beautiful auburn curls that were not quite believable above the waterline, but would float magically underwater.

I also scored, at the last minute, the glorious black and yellow striped taffeta jacket for the barker. The rest of his attire was easy. Tanya offered to do her makeup and bring some Wet Set for it. Project Mermaid was go.

I’ll talk about all the tech challenges next time. Lighting. Safety. Syphons. It was an ongoing process through the entire project. I tried to improve the set up a bit more for every shoot, but I think every shoot had something go wrong. Radio triggers got doused with water and died. Paint melted and floated in miniscule droplets throughout the tank. Lips turned blue. Water clouded up quickly. Ill behaved long hair made models more Cousin It than languid beauty. These are some of the things that made me refer to this project as, “either the best worst idea I have ever had, or the worst best idea”.

All the mermaid images are available as 20″ x 40″ metallic canvas prints. Please contact me if you are interested in those or any of my other images.