There’s nothing that evokes childlike wonder quite like mermaids. I don’t think there’s any girl who watched The Little Mermaid as a kid and afterwards didn’t wanted to be one… So when this shoot, although not strictly wedding inspired, landed in my inbox, I knew I wanted to share it with you. It’s pure fantasy but that doesn’t make it any less fabulous.
“I have a real love of fantasy shoots because you can completely let your imagination run free and bring your ideas to life”, wrote photographer Heline Bekker. “Gwenda, who played our mermaid, and I both work in the wedding industry and we do a lot of styled bridal shoots together. But we often talk about doing shoots just for us, something different, something not at all wedding-related, so we can spread our creative wings. Most of the time though, it just finds its way back to weddings…not this time though!”
“When we started talking about doing a mermaid themed shoot, we wanted to keep it as pure fantasy. I love the ocean and always thought of doing a mermaid shoot. When Gwenda told me that as a kid she always wished she could be a mermaid, we knew what we had to do! So we thought up a little storyline to focus on: The mermaid princess giving up her life in the ocean to find love on land. I love having a storyline to focus on when I shoot, even if it’s just a small one.”
“The fabulously talented make-up artist, Amanda White, agreed to join us in this indulgent bit of escapism. She created for us two looks, the first for the mermaid’s emergence from the sea, the second for the mermaid’s transformation into human form. Sequin application on a breezy beach was a major challenge, but what a masterpiece!”
