LEXI LAINE
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Sussex-based underwater photographer Lexi Laine recently won the Beautiful Bizarre Magazine Art Prize 2020 iCanvas photography award, so what better time to showcase some of her incredibly beautiful pictures? underwater environment and how we as humans need to take better care of this vital resource. I started off making underwater portraits without any end goal of where the pictures would be shown - I had no brief to fulfill or client to satisfy. And for this reason I could experiment and play and push boundaries within myself and what I’m capable of achieving, both physically and creatively.”
) How did you get into underwater
photography? “I did a fine art degree in my early 20s and found myself drawn to photography as a medium. Since then I’ve spent the last 12 years or so building my career as a commercial photographer, shooting portraits, weddings, anything people based really. I think the artist in me longed for a creative project that could combine some of my passions, which is why around six years ago I decided to buy an underwater housing for my camera. I grew up as a bit of a water baby so I longed to take photographs in these beautiful places I had discovered under the waves.” Why this particular medium? “It’s the perfect creative outlet for me. I can make art that reflects my feelings about the
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LEXI LAINE
It must be an extremely specialist area, what is the process for getting the image that you really want? “So I guess the first thing I should mention is that I’m a freediver which means that everything I do is on a single breath hold. The same goes for the people I work with to
“The locations I work in are almost always natural outdoor spots such as the sea or inland bodies of water. I think the two most difficult parts of what I do is finding models who look natural underwater and locations with clear enough water. But the difficulties involved in all of this is part of what I enjoy.” How much of the final outcome do you leave to nature and the conditions on the day? “I always start off shoots with particular ideas in mind for what I want to achieve. This begins with sketches normally and my ideas normally develop months before shoots happen. I often will travel to clearwater locations and spend up to a month shooting intensively. But even with months of planning, my ideas always develop when I am actually on location. The particular topography of underwater landscapes, the way LEXI LAINE DORADA
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photograph underwater. So we train to be able to hold our breath for longer periods. I know a lot of underwater photographers use scuba equipment to be able to stay underwater long enough but I much prefer working without. When you remove all of that bulky equipment from the equation you can move a lot more freely in the water and you develop a much better connection to the environment and the person or people you’re shooting.
