Evening falls and French photographer Julian de Hauteclocque Howe is ready to create his own fairytale story of The Little Mermaid at the pond of the Denmark Pavilion in the Expo Garden.
Despite the fact that his mermaid, Wang Jing, can't dive or swim well, after 12 hours of shooting, de Hauteclocque Howe has the beginnings of his Fairytale World project, a project to promote a variety of world cultures through exhibitions of fairytale themed photographs.
The French photographer, who was born in Japan, has spent much of his life traveling around the world. He has lived in Shanghai since 2004 and has built a strong reputation in China and Asia by having photographed for various ad campaigns, magazines and celebrities. Now he is using his skills in the Expo Garden.
Twelve pictures from his Little Mermaid-inspired shoot are on display at the Nordic Lighthouse, an exhibition hall in the Expo Garden. The pictures capture the essence of The Little Mermaid story and the beauty of the Denmark Pavilion's pond.
For de Hauteclocque Howe, the story of The Little Mermaid is one that everyone can enjoy.
When he started the project, de Hauteclocque Howe decided to create a fantasy.
"I want to create something that does not exist in the real world," he said.
For him, the story is more about how the mermaid went after what she desired.
"The mermaid can represent anything - money, success or anything that one is willing to die for," de Hauteclocque Howe said.
He said he was impressed with Wang and her professional attitude and abilities, especially needing to be a graceful mermaid but having limited swimming and diving skills.
"I wanted to capture the details of her expression, her fingers and her hair," de Hauteclocque Howe said. "These are the most important things to make a vivid figure."
He thinks that hands are especially important. While feet are crucial to present the shape of a fishtail, the message conveyed through the hands and fingers are conceivable to people of all cultures.
De Hauteclocque Howe brought some Chinese elements to the photographs by printing the images on rice paper and creating ink-painting effects. "I painted the hair, the skin of the mermaid in most of pictures in the exhibition," he said.
Included in the exhibition are snippets from the original text of The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, which correlate with the select photographs.
De Hauteclocque Howe describes himself as someone who is "always the first person to try new things", and through his trials, errors and eventual improvements in his boundary-pushing photography, de Hauteclocque Howe is also able to "make things better".
China Daily
(China Daily 09/10/2010 page)
