Belle Flaneur Splash down
We’re on a roll & wading deeper into the blue. Lara Camilleri & Nicole Ashley are driving our Mermaid inspired fashion shoot as the 2nd phase of the oceanic awareness concept. Supporting David Hempton’s petition for ‘Passive Use Areas’ Bondi beach & resurrecting the Bondi Mermaid sculptures.
From researching Ben Buckler we have discovered the last remnant of what was once a major Aboriginal engraving site- this turtle. Turtles always find their way to their beach.
Ben Buckler Aboriginal turtle rock engraving.
We invite all those interested in this fashion styling collaboration to get your tail high & say ‘i’!
When: Early Sunday 22nd April, very early am…we’re going for day break for this one – 6am start.
WEATHER REPORT FOR SHOOT IN FROM ECO DAVE
02:49 low tide @ 0.5m
08:48 high tide @ 1.4m with 2.4m swell
Winds from NE…be prepared to get…salty!
Where: Ben Buckler, Bondi Beach
What: Splash down photoshoot- 2 girls, 2 tails, Bondi beach, scales, headpieces, metal jewellery, Mac make-up, Belle Flaneur community, fashion fabulosity & ishootmermaids!
Behind the scenes moments will be captured by BF’s Sheree Aitken.
BF mission- create a smokin Mermaid crush fashion story, ressurect Bondi Mermaids on Ben Buckler & collaborate with likeminded souls to create ‘Passive Use Areas’ at Bondi beach.
Why: Because “the more you do, the more you can do” – Lucille ball
Plus we wanna swim with no fear of hooks & spears!
How: In collaboration with like minded souls. Belle Flaneur – in, on & around the big blue! Inspiration pics attached.
Bondi Mermaids- There were originally two Bondi mermaids who sat on the Big Rock at Ben Buckler. The Big Rock is a 235-tonne boulder at Ben Buckler, on the northern headland of Bondi Beach, which was believed to have been thrown up by heavy seas on 15 July 1912. Because the mermaids used to sit there this rock is also often referred to as Mermaid Rock.
Only the remains of one of the mermaids is still in existence. She is on permanent display in a special perspex case on the 1st floor, Waverley Library, 32-48 Denison Street, Bondi Junction.
The mermaid statues were modelled on two local women:
Jan Carmody, who was Miss Australia Surf, 1959
Lynette Whillier, champion swimmer and runner-up in the Miss Australia Surf, 1959 Sculptor Lyall Randolph created the mermaids from bronze-coloured fibreglass that he filled with cement. He first tried to sell the idea of the mermaids to Waverley Council, but the Council refused to pay for them.
So Lyall erected them on the Big Rock at his own expense. He claimed that because they were placed a certain distance offshore the space they occupied was not under the jurisdiction of Waverley Council, but the Department of Lands. He claimed that the Department had approved his statues. The mermaids were installed on 3 April 1960.
One month after they appeared university students chiselled mermaid Jan from the Big Rock and removed her as part of a Commemoration Day prank! She was later recovered under mysterious circumstances at the Engineering School, Sydney University. Repaired, she was restored to the Big Rock to rejoin her fellow mermaid Lynette. The cost of repair met by public subscription – the public loved the mermaids so much that they paid for Jan to be put back together again.Heavy seas claimed Lynette in 1974; swept off the Big Rock in a storm she disappeared forever. Jan lost an arm and her tail in the same storm. For two years Jan sat alone on her rocky throne until Waverley Council removed what was left of her in 1976, storing her in a Council Depot where she was forgotten for many years.
Re-found in the late 1980s she was moved to Waverley Library, where, in 1999, the Friends of Waverley Library paid for her remains to be preserved by Sydney Artefacts Conservation.
17 April 2012
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24 Comments
So excited for this one! My tail is high to be apart of the shoot, disappointed I couldn’t be more involved but excited all the same for this Sunday. Loved the story of the Bondi Mermaids and how their story can be retold through the creative vision of Belle Flaneur! x
“I” as like Shezzi my tail was high from the get go. This story of the Bondi Mermaids has been so inspiring and I’m so excited to see this photo shoot develop into a glorious resurrection.
I’ve enjoyed the learning curve of identifying this fashion dream & sourcing appropriate images to add to the inspiration for this layer, so we are all on the same blue page! Working and collaborating on this event with a group of beautiful talented people is the best.
Take the drive & make a splash with us!
This will turn out to be AMAZING!! Fingers crossed for better weather than what we have been having!!! Either way its going to be a great start to my sunday. See you there nice and early
To everybody reading this post; If you have any questions at all about the fashion photo shoot please direct them into the comment box. This will save the same question being asked over & over and we can create a chat room as such about every element.
Thank you BF’s x LC 4 BF
Hey Belle Flaneur,
My names Stephanie, I am good friends with Lara & work with her at tigerlily. Ever since Lara joined BF I have been interested in all your work. I am currently in my third year of a Bachelor of Design in Visual Communications course and am trying to major in Photography.
I write to you today as I would love to join the team this sunday sunrise for the ‘Splash Down’ Mermaid Oceanic inspired Photo Shoot. I would like to develop my skills with your community by shooting back stage photography & simply observing this event. I put my tail up and say “I”.
Hope you will have me on board.
This looks great! Id love to be apart of this project!!!
!
I’m available for the Sunday, and any post work on the Monday before
9am
Thanks heaps!
Kaitlyn
Sunrise 6.30am. Ben Buckler 6.00am start.
Hello again
!
I have previously volunteered in the 2011 Sydney fashion week as a dresser, assisting designers such as Zimmerman, Bec and Bridge as well as a few others. Also, interned at Cirqlate publicity for 3 months assisting in showroom maintenance and presentation.
I’m currently employed at Dangerfield Bondi junction, 3IC/visual merchandiser/stockroom manager!
Styling is my area of interest I’d love to be involved with it somehow in London or Japan, I love their crazy out-there individualism!
Thanks again
Kaityn!!
(available Sunday and Monday before 9am)
Hey Steph & Kaitlyn look forward to having you both with us sunday morning!
Yes Dave 6am start, it is locked in guys!
So sad i cant make the shoot but the inspiration shots are amazing…. so many ideas circling. I’m in the middle of making more metal head pieces for the shoot with a touch of blue in them. I’ve also made a few different pieces for other body parts…Cant wait to see the end result.
This Sunday is Earth Day…but as we stand on the land looking out…we should conceed that our “Earth” is more than 2/3 water and we should start giving our marine world the respect it deserves…Mermaids are creatures of both worlds, there to remind us of the saltwater that flows within all of us …we are inexplicably linked forever to the sea…
Yay Elle so thrilled you are creating more headpieces for this BF fashion story. We are at BF Headquarters tonight pulling the outfits for our Scuba Splash Down. It’s taken on a very edgy couture aesthetic so your metal pieces will work a dream!
Wow Ant what a great layout for the Splash Down inspiration pics! Love the new Breathe Deep collection! Feelin so inspired for this shoot.
What a day myself, Nik & Nonna (BFNC) had today as we scoured through the BF Studio to source the perfect “it” pieces for such an aspirational story. After going just a a lil overboard, we eliminated a few outfits (8 in total) & the end result is gonna make quite the SPLASH!. Each outfit will be teamed up with metal crafted body & headwear by Elle Hopton & our’breathe deep’ scuba equipment has been sourced from our very own Eco Diver Darling Dave Thomas (who is also our photographer on the shoot). To finish off the all consuming BF day & night I just received images from our lovely mac makeup artist Casey, a selection of makeup trials- stunning & so oceanic & perfect for our aesthetic. Love your work!
Super excited to work on this shoot!!!!
Few questions with hair though…
1) are you wanting the entire hair to look wet, or just the roots?
2) Are you wanting me to create blue tips on the hair?
Hey Sam,
In answer to your above question, our vision for the hair is- long, straight down & slicked back at the sides. We’re seeing quite a hard shell of lazer cut metal on the top of the head to reflect marine life (scales & cartilage).In some shots there will be headwear which is being crafted by Elle Hopton as we speak. The hair should be dry & just drop straight down at back or at the side of the body. I say we begin this way and as we shoot the hair gets slicker & wetter throughout the shoot. At the end of our shoot, for the last few looks, we let nature do it’s thing and submerge the models into the beautiful deep blue! Breathe Deep!
As for blue tips at the ends of the hair, we see only Elisha having this detail & only in a few shots. All will be disccussed Saturday night prep. Any more questions please ask x
Wonderful stuff. My family &I lived across the road from the mermaids during the 60′s and I admired them every day when at the beach. Lest we forget.
Looking forward to the shoot this Sunday.. CANT WAIT TO BRING OUT THE INNER MERMAID! weather is looking much better today than the last few days so hopefully it stays this way!!!
Loving all the colours and inspiration for the shoot!!!
Ready to dive right into it…. literally dive!!!!
haha yes Elisha you got that right you are going to transform tomorrow and scale up for this oceanic awareness fashion shoot!!
This project has all the integrity and values to make the world a better place. Rumor has it: the blue lighting may be turned of, we must not let this happen. Without the big blue we are nothing but the human race. As an artist I have been witness to the purity of this project and I pledge $200 contribution to extend the blue light of this installation. I encourage people to help sustain the blue light with more financial contribution as a symbol of their hope to sustain the big blue… the planet….
Sophie, thank you so much for your contribution to keep the blue alive. It is such a big part of this window installation and creates such movement in the stores. We at Belle Flaneur appreciate your support.
Thanks Lc, I have been so moved by the installation the blue light and the bare mannequins …It’s like the big blue ( planet) infusing a new life into new live forms, new humans maybe…more aware… very powerful…
I fondly remember as a TAFE student, being taken on a tour of the impressive Mei + Picci Showroom at Stanmore! It was such a pleasure to remove the lovely virgin mannequins from their boxes and bubble wrap, and assemble them.Thank you so much!
To the whole BF team & BF followers; yesterday we resurrected the 2 Bondi Mermaids. This was only made possible by such a dedicated and talented team, who were up at the crack of dawn, eager to create a mind blowing, high fashion, ocean awareness photo shoot, fashion story. Our two gorgeously stunning belle/butch models brought it to the table and worked the camera so well. Speaking of cameras, our photographer Dave Thomas worked his magic and our onset photographers Sheree Aitken and Steph caught the days onset magic moments.
Gorgeous mermaid inspired makeup compliments ‘Makeup by Casey’ and edgy blue tipped slick hair by Samantha Lee. These girls really captured & delivered our vision.
As for my two partners in the magnificent shoot; Mumma BF and Niksta, I just want to say you two are such amazing people to work with and you are both stylist I love working alongside.
Mumma BF organized a beautiful surprise for the day, which formed another important layer to the shoot and our lives; Aboriginal elder Uncle Max Eulo performed a traditional Aboriginal smoke ceremony for us all and cleansed us and the area we created in. This was a first time experience for most of us & it was such an honour & a privilege. He was also our handsome model!Thank you Uncle Max.
Thank you for those who joined us on the day, especially Dave from Bondi Mermaids who taught us more about the importance of this cause we are loving, supporting & promoting.
What a day, what a movement! I am still so inspired and thrilled to be continuing my learning with our successful team. We rocked the seas and have a shoot like no other!
This shoot was amazing to be apart of! Thank you for having me and it was incredible to witness such beautiful models and surrounding atmosphere bring out the inner mermaids in all of us!