Where Adventure Meets Imagination
Our goal in creating Oceaya was to evoke a sense of wonder and surreal beauty — where the ocean becomes a stage for adventure, imagination, and transformation. Through a blend of lifestyle storytelling, these images explore the freedom and allure of life shaped by the sea.
The campaign features four highly stylized hero images shot in studio and on location, along with a series of beauty and lifestyle moments that reflect the freedom and energy of the ocean. Each scene was crafted to balance the surreal with the real — combining cinematic lighting, fashion influence, and storytelling.
Bringing Oceaya to life was as much about creativity as it was about problem-solving. From sourcing the right artisans to design the costumes, to casting, and engineering the underwater goddess concept — every detail required careful thought and experimentation.
The challenge was to create the illusion of weightlessness and transformation — from octopus to goddess — without ever entering the water. We explored how to suspend our model safely, how her hair could flow naturally, and how to project shimmering, reflected light across her body to evoke that underwater glow.
We also had to carefully envision and build a reflection pool large enough to capture authentic reflections from the illuminated dress and floating lumières for the Goddess Arriving shot. Balancing the dress lights, floating elements, and our key lighting was a delicate dance that gave the scene its ethereal realism.
Choosing between continuous light and flash was another key decision, as we aimed for a look that felt both cinematic and organic. Beyond the studio, we spent a full day on location with the kiteboarders, testing how closely two riders could fly side by side and developing a plan B when the wind disappeared on shoot day.
In all, the project took more than three months of planning, testing, and sourcing — a true collaboration of artistry, engineering, and vision. We had one prep day, two shoot days in the studio, and one day on location to create the hero images and library.
