A Depth Most Would Drown In
They appear in myths, stories, legends and fairy tales; mermaids are among the most appealing creatures of all time. A mermaid radiates strength, beauty and self-confidence and playfully tells a story of autonomy and freedom. But she does not only exist in stories.
Photographer Elisa Maenhout investigates the global trend of men and (especially) women dressing up as mermaids to allow all the stresses of life to simply slip away. The part-time mermaids and mermen form a close-knit, global community. Strapping on a tail and entering the water feels like a sweet escape into a magical world with no room for problems. In her series, Maenhout plays with the boundary between fact and fiction, between dream and reality, framed between the surface and the seabed where light behaves differently and gravity seems to be an illusion.
