ENTRY DESCRIPTION
"The power of the light, tension still palpable in the body, contrasts with the calm and serenity that emanate from the archer’s soul. She has just shot the arrow, but its flight, destination and future are no longer hers. She knows, but she does not fear this. Her action has been guided by her Heart. She alone knows where the Light is."


I did the picture in a Cenote (natural cave fill with fresh water) in Mexico
The light is 100 natural, no after effect, no air assistant.

Like all my work, what you see its what i saw. The level of complexity to create such a picture is incredible. I worked a week to make it happen and the day of the shooting, i had a team of 4 freedivers + the model in breath hold too.




AUTHOR
It is from behind a lens that Bastien Soleil, an underwater artist, expresses his art and his talent. Having received multiple international awards for his short film “Tang’O”, he is inspired by freedom and the quest for selfknowledge. His black and white shots highlight the raw beauty of his models, a technique that he has developed during countless freedives; his parallel life to photography. Born in the center of France, it was in Asia that Bastien Soleil officially met the sea. There, a love story started that bears fruit still today. It was after multiple adventures around the globe in a frantic search for happiness that Bastien received the undeniable “call of the sea”. A call so strong, that it pushed him to become a freediving instructor. This has allowed him to explore and apply the complexity of his compositions both above and underwater, with exquisite effect. All his work is done in a natural, underwater environment, without any trickery or artificial light. His work reflects his personality, free and without artifice.
As Commander Jacques-Yves Cousteau rightly said, “The sea, once it has cast its spell, holds one forever in its net of wonder”, a net into which Bastien Soleil has voluntarily dived and where he will take you safely and gently by the hand.

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