Mermaids and Muses

***Because I've been asked a few times, CHILDREN are more than welcome to the photoshoot rewards. You can even have a children's mermaid phtooshoot party if you pledge enough. Please contact me for details. ***

I've always loved the ocean, and as a kid growing up in L.A.'s east-side, the stories of mermaids always fascinated me. Even though I was told they weren't "real", I always felt otherwise; the ocean was too deep and mysterious for man to really know the truth, there were too many stories all the way to ancient times for them to not be real.

As an adult, I haven't fully put that belief away, and as I've spent countless hours underwater; I've always been on the lookout for these mermaids and sirens, catching glimpses of their tails disappearing into the dark depths of the sea. ;)

This project is for a photo exhibition, inspired by images and stories of mermaids and muses. My models represent the strong mermaids of stories; their photos will symbolize different emotions, and use not only the tail that's seen in the video above, but fabrics and other props. They will not only be "mermaids", but also the muses in our creatives lives. Though they are thought as fantasy, that they don't exist in this world, I want to show that all of us have a mermaid, or merman, inside of us.

The gallery show is what I'm hoping to be Part 1 of a longer series that may include a photo book and possibly a film/documentary in the future.

I am a Los Angeles based photographer who is OBSESSED with being underwater, and would love to have this project come to fruition. With your pledge, you can help me put on a great exhibit and get yourself some beautiful art for your walls. Also, the opportunity to have an underwater shoot of your own; for yourself or a loved one, is available here, at a heavily discounted price from what I normally charge! You'll have a professional make-up artist to help bring out the mermaid, or merman, in you, and a beautiful print of your shoot!

The funds from this indiegogo project will go towards shooting more images for the project, expanding on the costumes, hiring a photoshop expert, and will help pay for the final printing and framing of the images before they're shown. They will be printed large, at a minimum of 30x40".

To me, mermaids have always represented freedom and joy, the happiness one finds in nature, the peace that being in the water can bring, and the serenity that surrounds you. The intent of my images is just that; to bring those emotions to the viewer, to have them feel that serenity, that peace, and joy that mermaids seem to have.