Page 21 - Q01-2021 Fins Magazine

TA
L
E
SN
T
T Y
BR
E
by JEFF WEINER | PATRICIA PASTRANO
Brett Stanley has made his underwater JW
portraiture into an art form. He will go to Brett you create sets underwater, so
extraordinary lengths to create his images, underwater portraiture. But it’s really more than
including building complete underwater sets. We that too. Because in looking at these photos,
interviewed Brett and found him to be relaxed there is one here you you’ve set up a whole
and easy-going. graveyard with tombstones and the model is
painted.
JW
Alright, so first question. How long have you Brett S
been doing this? Yeah, she’s been body painted. She was
painted by an amazing body painter, Lana
Brett S Chromium. Milynn Sarley is an amazing
So I’ve been a photographer for probably about underwater model. And to be honest, I kind of
12-14 years, but I’ve been doing underwater did see this image in my head because it’s kind
almost exclusively for about seven or eight of of a homage to Beetlejuice.
those.
I wanted to do a kind of Halloween set, so I
Pat P went to all the Home Depot’s here and all the
What made you want to focus on underwater Michael’s and bought up as many props that
photography? I thought would sink as I could. And then I
spoke to Milynn and asked her what outfits she
Brett Stanley had. And she said, ‘You know what? I’ve got
I just love the underwater, so being underwater a BeetleJuice outfit. Who’s the main character
is my happy place. It’s where I feel the most from Beetlejuice?‘ And it all just kind of came
calm and the most at peace. My brain tends together. So this is my homage of Beetlejuice’s
to be kind of like a hummingbird. As soon as graveyard from the movie.
I go underwater, I become totally focused and
everything else kind of just disappears. For me Pat P
going underwater was a kind of a no brainer. The image just stops you in your tracks. Like,
Taking my photography with me just made it from a photography aspect, what were you
so much nicer to be down there and gave me a thinking? It’s amazing.
reason to be underwater.
JW
It was probably like seven or eight years ago Do you have a vision board or maybe some pre
that I first tried underwater photography as comps before you shoot?
underwater portraiture. I have been doing
underwater photography since I was a kid. I Brett S
loved to dive. I would take pictures of fish, which, Not often. No. I tend to shoot by the seat of my
quickly I found to be extremely boring. Taking pants, a lot of times just throw a whole bunch
people under the water and doing what I do in of crap in a pool and then kind of make it work.
the studio, is what I call underwater portraiture.
When I build sets, I build walls and a floor
The underwater studio work is what I have been and a door and windows and all that sort of
doing for about seven or eight years. The reason stuff. Yeah, I kind of do previsualize this sort
I did that in the first place was I felt like I needed of thing because I want to know what I’m
to find something. going to make beforehand. I use a program
called SketchUp, which is a 3D rendering
I felt as a photographer, I was always kind of program, to get an idea of the size of things
chasing someone else’s work. I was not finding and where things are going to go. Outside of
my own voice, if you know what I mean. And so, that everything else just kind of happens on the
when I finally went underwater with a camera day. The way it’s lit, the way the props are and
and found a way to do the images that I saw all that sort of stuff a lot of it just happens once
in my head, that’s when I started to become we get underwater.
obsessed and felt like I had found my place.
I had a beautiful Baroque chair I that I loved.
20 That chair is very dear chair to me, it is 21