Belgian photographer Filip Blommaert and Austrian freediver Christin Gerstorfer went to a depth of 45,4 metres to break the world record for deepest underwater photoshoot.
Going from Special Forces operator to underwater model photographer, is an unusual, if not, unique career path. Filip Blommaert, however, strives continuously to push boundaries by merging the extreme with the artistic. “Seeking out new challenges is the story of my life”, he says.
The military diver explains that the idea of breaking the record was born during a recent trip to the Philippines, where he was taking photos with Alessia Zecchini, an Italian freediver who holds the freediving world record for women at 123 metres.
Christin Gerstorfer, whose personal freediving record lies at 65 metres, was also present during the trip and brought up her desire to break a world record. Blommaert said he previously toyed with the idea as well, whether it was the deepest underwater shoot or the coldest under ice, he says he wanted to achieve something extreme.
“Christin and I clicked fairly quickly”, he adds, “we spoke the same language.”
The shoot consisted of two warm-up dives and two shooting dives. Together with a safety diver, Blommaert was underwater for one hour in total.
Gerstorfer, whose dive time was roughly two minutes for each dive, used weights to help her get to the bottom of the pool where she posed for a minute before swimming back up with the help of an underwater scooter.
On a post on Instagram, the freediver thanks the team including safety divers and make-up artist Marike De Meester and says the achievement, which proved to be an “exceptional logistical challenge”, would otherwise not have been possible.
During the test dives, the use of the wings turned out to be a key challenge for the team. “The wings appeared to be incredibly buoyant, we had to attach 5 kg to get them to sink.”
Blommaert adds that an additional pair of wings they purchased were made of cardboard on the inside, which unfortunately did not bode well for the underwater shoot.
