'Alice in Wonderland' photo-illustrated underwater by Elena Kalis!

My favorite book and my favorite subject matter merged together by Elena Kalis.

In the photo above Alice is poking her head through the looking glass into the alternate reality of 'Wonderland.'

Interviewed by Apostolos Mitsios for Yatzer.com Elena reveals her inspiration for such an ambitious project.

Which are the main difficulties you come up as far as working under water is concerned?

Nothing is working the same way as in the ground. It's like you are in another dimension. But this is why it is so interesting…


What is that people find so amazing about the Alice in Wonderland story and how did you decide to create your own version?

Alice in Wonderland is timeless. It’s open to interpretations and it's up to you to make them. I decided to make it for a few reasons: this is my all time favorite book, my daughter Sacha is the same age as Alice (10) and very good at modeling underwater and, finally, the story itself seems like from some lucid different place...(underwater perhaps ?)

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Originally spotted at NotCot.org

Ballet dancers film underwater!

The art director in me turned this photo upside down for a quick, emotional, punch. To see it displayed correctly, click the the link below

Bernstein&Andriulli: [Link]

Underwater photographer, Ric Frazier, captures more than just swimming!

Swim photography is all about timing and composition; Ric Frazier is extraordinary at both. When I went to his site, I was impressed with the clarity, color saturation and his sense of composition in his photographs. The images I posted above are just a small sampling of his work; the rest of it certainly is just as attention grabbing and "yummy."

I wrote Ric and asked him about his work and how he approaches it. His answer explains everything.

"... My approach is that I when I shoot underwater I need a concept to be there. A reason to be in the water. I don't just to put someone underwater to be underwater. I also love the lines and shapes that pools provide. I fell in love with pool from skateboarding in them since I was 14 year old (38, now) Their shapes, lines and how every pool is different. When I started shooting underwater, the water element added so much more graphical complexity for me. ..."

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Swim photography

Ogged shared a link with us all to some very rich underwater swim photography by Grant Steinfeld. [Link] Here is a link to his blog, Aqua Hill, with some great insights on photographing swimmers: [Link]

The more I look at this the more it looks like a bullet being shot into ballistics gel.

The underwater photography of Howard Schatz

The underwater photography of Howard Schatz is summarily blissful and sublime so go to his site and see for yourself.

What do you get when you cross a swimmer with a dancer? Fine art by Howard Schatz!

I can barely contain myself over the enthusiasm I have for his art. Not only are his photographs hanging in galleries, museums, and private collections world over, but he has done work for such clients as Nike, Sony, MGM, Cirque du Soleil "O", Sports Illustrated, Vanity Fair, on ad infinitum and then farther than that.

His underwater work can be seen here at howardschatz.com and if that doesn't inspire you to go out and swim two or three thousand yards, check out his cinema-photography work here.

Now, if you are not through with being a land-dwelling animal after all that, be sure to view more of his water photography of the Cirque du Soleil show "O" for the final coup de grâce.