HomePhotographyHappy Little Swimmers Ballet, Modern Dance, Pools and Kids are the Recipe for Alix Martinez’ Warm Hearted Photography Children photographer, Alix Martinez’ has captured the submerged action in several themes, such as hockey, tennis and super heroes. This year, the focus of her Underwater series has been ballet, and modern dancers. The stunning photographs reveal the grace and talent of the children, as well as Alix’ skilled art direction. ‘I try to give them direction on how to let all the water out of their mouths so they don’t have a puffy face,’ Alix told us. ‘ I tell them to be aware of their dresses as the water pushes the dresses up and back a lot. The colours and the light mixed with the happy little swimmers excites me every time.’ With a mix of some natural and studio light gleaming through the pool, Alix opens up an underwater world full of cuteness and innocence. We dove further into this playful series with Alix. The Plus: They say never work with children… Alix Martinez: It’s always fun and challenging as some children have a lot of energy and some have less. It depends how old they are as well, as the children that are over 6 tend to be better swimmers so I am able to shoot more of a variety of photographs. I love it very much, as this will be my 4th summer taking underwater photographs. TP: What’s the most difficult part of shooting underwater? AM: I think holding my breath and trying to swim to achieve the right angle in the water can be super challenging. The children can sometimes get tired easily so we are in an out. I usually have a storyboard of ideas before we get in the water and I give them direction on what we will be doing. TP: What’s the best part about shooting underwater? AM: I love how spontaneous being underwater can be, as the amount of bubbles, ripples and reflections and also all children swim differently. TP: What equipment do you use? AM: I have a canon mark III, in an Ikelite underwater housing. With a 24mm lens/dome, goggles with a nose cover and a wet suit, as I am always cold in the water. Go to Alix’s website for more images.
