Happy Birthday, Chyanne
I wanted to take some space to openly acknowledge and thank one of my top XA Underwater Team members on her birthday, Chyanne Prince. When I try to add it up, I'm not sure who I've photographed more underwater....Tori, Keragan, or Chyanne. Tori and Keragan are the OG underwater models; they showed up for me summer after summer after summer in my early years, bringing dance costumes and swimming with me all day and night while I figured out how to do what I do. Fast forward to 2019, and Chyanne had posted a picture of a beautiful black lace dress we now lovingly call the "Stevie Nicks dress", and when I asked, she agreed to wear it underwater for me. We met up at her aunt's pool and she was amazing, right out the gate. From that day on, we photographed as often as possible. Posing underwater isn't always as easy as it looks, and when I started taking on clients in 2021, Chyanne would come to our sessions when she could and swim with my new clients, showing them tricks she's learned about breathing, posing, and working with me. Having her on set has been amazing, and I am very thankful she wants to do that for me and my clients.
Tori & Chyanne at the Gentry Studio, 2021
I imagine that some of the things I've asked Chyanne to do for me haven't exactly been exciting, like when I'm trying to learn something challenging, or trying to work out a new pose, or replicate a lighting situation, but she never complained and would do a great job anyway. She's given me valuable feedback from the other side of the camera, and has helped me work through countless ways to describe movements that have lead to incredible underwater poses. I've been able to use those descriptions and prompts many times over, and my work is better for it.
My all time favorite image of Chyanne is from what we call the 'Goldfish' series; it was taken at night in about 4 feet of water. It was a nice night, but the water was actually freezing. She and I were huddled up so closely to each other in the water that I don't know I'm not in the pictures myself. Her husband Jordan sat poolside and held my dive lights for me, acting as a human light stand, allowing me to move his arm around, lighting Chyanne in the shallow water. None of us lasted long, and we called it a night after only about 15 minutes. Since it was such a short session, I wasn't really expecting much from that night, however I was absolutely delighted to discover that we had created one of the most beautiful underwater pictures I've ever taken. That was early in our 2020 season, and it STILL remains in my top 5 all-time favorite underwater pictures, ever.
I could tell you more stories about Chyanne and the fun we've had together; there's a story about landscapers showing up when we were in the middle of photographing a completely nude series, and if I wanted to get Chyanne worked up, all I have to do is just *mention* the beta fish outfit. I look forward to making more stories with her in the upcoming 2023 Underwater Season, and I am so thankful she loves doing this as much as I love working with her. For her birthday, I wanted to put together a collection of pictures we've taken over the last several years, and to thank her for all of her time and energy she's given to me as an underwater model.
Chyanne, happy birthday, sweet friend. Thank you for everything you've given me and XA and our clients. You are beautiful, talented, and irreplaceable. I cannot wait to see what 2023 holds for us. <3
