Siblings Serafina and Keanan pose side by side on a bed underwater off the coast of Fiji in photographer Nick Brandt’s series “SINK / RISE.”
“Somebody said it was quite post-apocalyptic. And I said, ‘No, it’s pre-apocalyptic.’ Because it hasn’t actually happened to these people yet,” Brandt says.Joel and Petero sit on a seesaw. Brandt sees a sign of hope in this image. “The older generation is lifting the younger generation up towards the light,” he says.
The younger people he photographed — like Akessa and Maria, shown here — were often the most relaxed, Brandt says. Photographing people underwater — and helping them feel at ease and look natural despite the strange circumstances — is a far more difficult undertaking. But Brandt knew that if he succeeded and was able to create the concept he’d envisioned, the images would be unlike anything he’d seen before.
In the early days of the six-week shoot, Brandt says most of the models could only manage to hold their breath for about 15 seconds before they needed to reconnect to the underwater oxygen supply, and it would take almost 30 minutes to set up each shot. By the end, some were able to hold their breath for well over a minute, and setting up shots took only a minute or two.A lot of it came down to practice. Good communication also helped, Brandt says.
These weren’t deep-sea dives. Brandt says most of the photos were taken 2-4 meters below the water’s surface. But still, there was a very real risk lurking behind the natural appearance of those everyday scenes they created together. A behind-the-scenes video of “SINK / RISE” shows Niutabua preparing a weighted belt to be placed around Akessa’s waist, then guiding her down from the boat into the chair.
For Niutabua, the reality that Brandt’s surreal photos are exposing is all too clear. The divemaster lives steps from an idyllic beach along the coast but, like many in Fiji, he’s building a house further inland that he hopes has a better shot at withstanding the impacts of intensifying storms. To create the haunting images of people standing amid the broken coral, Brandt used everyday furniture typically seen inside homes and around schools.