{"id":6950,"date":"2016-06-02T20:34:21","date_gmt":"2016-06-02T11:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezramagazine.com\/?p=6950"},"modified":"2016-06-02T20:34:21","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T11:04:21","slug":"zena-hollaway-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ezramagazine.com\/?p=6950","title":{"rendered":"Zena Hollaway | Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

As a diver first and photographer second, Zena Holloway is a world-renowned creator of spectacular underwater photographs.\u00a0Zena shoots fine art, editorial, celebrities, sport, motion, fashion and lifestyle, and incorporates her love for the underwater world into her images. <\/span><\/p>\n

Born in Bahrain but raised between London and the rest of the world, her love for water and photography has allowed her to work across the globe\u00a0and hold exhibitions in cities such as Paris, Seoul and Toronto. <\/span>Holloway\u2019s passion and spark for creativity is certainly something to be admired as she not only captures images but also works with video to create short underwater films for clients and her own personal work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Diving into a world that is foreign to most of us allows her to capture people in a creative and intuitive way. Holloway says that her\u00a0<\/span>love for water brings the mystery and magic to the work that she creates.<\/span><\/p>\n

“For some reason, many people express themselves in an incredibly natural and intuitive way when they\u2019re underwater; becoming perfect subjects for telling stories through body language.\u00a0<\/span>I\u00a0try to tap into this space between myth and reality,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

As an underwater photographer Holloway is faced with quite a few challenges in her day-to-day work. These\u00a0can include murky water, cold temperatures and the pressures of a commercial shoot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst kind of problem beyond everything is crappy water. Fortunately I have a number of locations that I can rely on to be warm and most importantly clear, however turning up for a shoot and being faced with pea green soup to work in is so demoralising,\u201d\u00a0she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Copyright<\/a>
Copyright 2016 – Zena Holloway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere is never a quick fix and to continue with the shoot often means the results will not\u00a0be technically good enough to use anyway. I once had a commercial shoot which needed to be rescheduled; thankfully the insurance covered the extra costs and the client was very understanding.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Being self-taught and learning the skills on her own has been a \u201cvertical learning curve\u201d for Holloway, but said it was necessary to reach the place where she is at now. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c(Being self-taught) forced me to develop my own style which may not have happened if the path had been different. The business side of things is something that has taken me a couple of decades to feel comfortable with. For the bigger jobs I hire a freelance producer to manage the budgets. It is work that I loathe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Nude<\/a>
Copyright 2016 – Zena Holloway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In her downtime, Holloway loves to poke around flea markets\u00a0in her search for objects she can use either around the home or in one of her photography shoots. Repurposing objects\u00a0from local markets is a fantastic way\u00a0for a photographer to not only save money, but give life to an otherwise unused, unwanted and unloved piece.<\/p>\n

“I\u00a0recently collected a vintage megaphone that used to be fixed to a wall at a circus. It’s aluminium, 1.25 metres high and is going to make the most wonderful underwater platform for a model some day or a channel to direct a stream of bubbles\u2026.I\u2019m not sure yet.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Truly,<\/a>
Truly, Madly, Deeply. Siren and Sailor drift in Haute Couture beneath the blue water and amongst shipwrecks. Styled by Damian Foxe. Copyright 2016 – Zena Holloway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In general a photographer’s\u00a0life can become\u00a0pretty crammed. They\u00a0are always working several weeks ahead and planning for a month that isn’t in anyone else’s thoughts but theirs.\u00a0Time allotted to ‘winding down’ can often feel as though it is far and few between for some photographers.<\/p>\n

“I don\u2019t get nearly as much headspace as I would like. I have three kids of school age so\u00a0I have learned to juggle and\u00a0I\u00a0plate spin quite nicely,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“My best time for creative thinking and problem solving usually occurs around 5am when\u00a0the house is quiet.\u00a0Relaxation is a large glass of wine and a great film – sadly also not as often as\u00a0I\u00a0would like!”<\/span><\/p>\n

\""Change<\/a>
“Change your perspective on the meaning of luxury” – Shangri-La Advertisement – Copyright 2016 -Zena Holloway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fine-art or concept photography allows for a lot of creativity to be drawn upon by the photographer. As in our interview with fine art photographer Brooke Shaden<\/a>, it is about photographing the imagination and using the medium of photography to tell a story. In an advertisement for Shangri-La, Holloway was commissioned to bring to life “a woman\u00a0floating in a pool looking out onto the horizon of Taipei.”<\/p>\n

“Shangri-La was an excellent commission to work on. I was approached by an AD in Hong Kong who had this beautiful concept of a woman floating in a pool looking out onto the horizon of Taipei,” she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

“Shangri-La had just opened a new hotel in Taipei with a roof top pool so it was perfect for the client to tell the story and a wonderfully imaginative image to create. The budget wasn\u2019t super but that is often the way these things go.”<\/span><\/p>\n

“I fell in love with the brief and forfeited my fee to put towards production costs for the shoot. I\u2019m really pleased that I did as the shoot was the touchstone for a couple of other projects that have come my way.”<\/p>\n

\"So<\/a>
Divers swim rapidly out of shot to clear frame before the photographer snaps the picture whilst the mermaid hangs gracefully in the ocean tied to a breeze block with fishing line. – Copyright 2016 – Zena Holloway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Q&A<\/strong><\/p>\n

E: The Queen has decided she would like her next portrait underwater. How would that photography shoot go; what would you do and how would you approach the brief?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

ZH: Ha! That\u2019s hilarious! Naturally\u00a0I\u00a0would approach it with the utmost professionalism and keep my ideas confidential! However seeing as you’ve asked, I guess you\u2019d have to take advantage of her massive collection of priceless jewels. Dress her from head to toe in sparkling gems and have her perched on an underwater Neptune throne or arriving out of Bottecelli\u2019s clam shell to greet her royal subjects.<\/span><\/p>\n

E: As we’re overfishing our seas, and in Australia the Great Barrier Reef is becoming bleached from rising water temperatures, how would you convey the message of “save our oceans” or, “save our planet” in a photograph in your style?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

ZH: A few years ago I was commissioned to shoot a \u201cSave our Sharks\u201d campaign for Greenpeace. It shows the role of the diver in a cage reversed with the role of a great white.\u00a0<\/span>I support 350.org; it’s a movement rising from the bottom up all over the world, to unite people to campaign for a better climate for everyone. It’s an easy way to lend a voice to petitioning industry and government for change.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u00a0want to delve into the depths with Zena Holloway,\u00a0she’ll be running a workshop\u00a0in the Spring<\/a> in the Caribbean with Aqua Spirit.\u00a0For more\u00a0things Zena Holloway, check out her website at zenaholloway.com<\/a> and keep up to date with her photography work on her Facebook page here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A great white shark is captured and surrounded by free divers carrying harpoons. Image commissioned to bring awareness of declining shark populations. “Protecting the worlds oceans.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As a diver first and photographer second, Zena Holloway is a world-renowned creator of spectacular underwater photographs.\u00a0Zena shoots fine art, editorial, celebrities, sport, motion, fashion and lifestyle, and incorporates her love for the underwater world into her images. Born in Bahrain but raised between London and the rest of the world, her love for water and photography has allowed her to work across the globe\u00a0and hold exhibitions in cities such as Paris, Seoul and Toronto. Holloway\u2019s passion and spark for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6951,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,12],"tags":[577,1278],"class_list":["post-6950","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews","category-photographers","tag-interview","tag-zena-hollowa"],"yoast_head":"\nZena Hollaway | Interview - ezramagazine.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ezramagazine.com\/?p=6950\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zena Hollaway | Interview - ezramagazine.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As a diver first and photographer second, Zena Holloway is a world-renowned creator of spectacular underwater photographs.\u00a0Zena shoots fine art, editorial, celebrities, sport, motion, fashion and lifestyle, and incorporates her love for the underwater world into her images. 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