The world record for Deepest Underwater Model Photoshoot looks set to change hands once again – with the location moving indoors and shooting depth lowered past 45m.
The latest bid might not be in the original chilly open-water diving spirit that gave birth to “DUMP” records in 2021 but, according to Guinness World Records (GWR), conducting the shoot at a Polish enclosed facility in which the deeper you go the warmer the water gets is no bar to entry.
Underwater fashion shoots with GWR recognition in mind originated in Canada’s Lake Huron in 2021, with Canadian photographer Steve Haining immortalising model Ciara Antoski on a 6m-deep shipwreck, as reported on Divernet.
Haining built on the feat in 2023 with model Mareesha Klups, this time on a wreck at 30m, before the record was claimed late last year by Chilean photographer Pia Oyarzún and Canadian model Kim Bruneau at a dramatic 40m site in the warmer Bahamas.
Then late this August a session dubbed “Wings In The Deep” took place at 45.4m in Europe’s deepest artificial diving facility, Warsaw’s Deepspot. Water temperature can reach 34°C at the bottom of its cylindrical shaft.
This time the photographer was Belgian ex-military scuba diver Filip Blommaert, who runs underwater model / fashion-photography business Lemurvision and is “always in for new ideas and challenges”.
Looking for a world record
On a recent trip to the Philippines to photograph world champion freediver Alessia Zecchini, Blommaert had met Austrian freediver Christin Gerstorfer. She holds AIDA national women’s records for Constant Weight No Fins (46m) and Bi-Fins (60m), but when she told Blommaert that what she really wanted was a world record he had the solution.
In Poland Deepspot made its safety diver team available, while make-up artist Marike De Meester stood by to maintain the appearance of Blommaert’s model Gerstorfer. Two set-up and two shooting dives with the freediver sporting different costumes each time took the crew about an hour of pool time.
Gerstorfer was weighted and, rather than come on and off a scuba supply, would descend to pose for a minute at a time before swimming back to the surface with the help of a DPV. One unforeseen problem, however, was that her cardboard-based “wings of the deep” proved unexpectedly buoyant – and ultimately fragile.
The shoot was filmed, logged and witnessed and now needs to be ratified by GWR. “For the record title of Deepest Underwater Model Photoshoot, one of the guidelines states that ‘no distinction will be made regarding the body of water in which the attempt is made’,” GWR told Divernet.
“It is up to the person(s) making the attempt to choose the location most suitable. The photographer is welcome to make an application via the Guinness World Records website for our records management team to review.”
“We pushed the boundaries of what is possible in fashion and underwater photography,” claimed Blommaert, who is already planning to extend the shooting depth to 60m next time – and would also like to conduct a model photoshoot under ice.
“Freediving has always been a passion of mine,” said Gerstorfer, now within reach of that world record, “and to combine it with fashion in such a unique and extreme environment was an unforgettable experience.”
Also on Divernet: WORLD DIVE RECORD AS CHILLED MODEL POSES FIVE TIMES DEEPER, ‘MERMAIDS HAVING FUN’: MODEL-DIVE DEPTH RECORD DROPS TO 40M, PUSHING PHOTO-SHOOT LIMITS FOR NEW WORLD RECORD, Q&A: IVANA ORLOVIC
