Series - FotoSlovo 2026 - Category « Fine Art »

The Balkan Mermaids series presents a deconstruction of the idealized myth of underwater beauty and ethereal grace. Instead of the canonized imagery of flawless models in weightless suspension, this work portrays women in a direct, unvarnished collision with an alien element. The focus is shifted toward an anti-siren aesthetic: replacing grace with the heavy materiality of aging and the suffocating weight of wet fabric; replacing tranquility with disorientation and raw human expression.

Submerged in the oppressive darkness of a pool, these 'anti-mermaids' defy the visual imperatives that equate underwater beauty solely with youth. The photographs document the tragicomic struggle of a body grappling with gravity and shadow, while the subjects' smiles within the chaos emerge as an act of defiance—a testament to the human need for dignity and the right to play within imposed biological and aesthetic boundaries. Through high-contrast black and white imagery, the darkness ceases to be a mere background and becomes the only relevant space where the truth of the desire to be seen is not hidden, but stripped to the bone.