The Deep

“Give up
Or love me for the things I’m not,
Because
I won’t let this turn to dust
On us, no.

Creatures of the darkness know
How to keep the lights low.
Creatures of the darkness know
How to keep the lights low.

Just give me a sign ‘cause it runs through my mind like your heat.
Caught in the web, you’re so easily led to the deep.
Falling behind ‘cause it runs through my mind like a need.
Caught in the web, you’re so easily led to the deep.

This love,
You know that I’d call it off,
But I can’t, I can’t
Give up,
‘Cause you know I was made for us,

I can’t give up.

Just give me a sign ‘cause it runs through my mind like your heat.

Caught in the web, you’re so easily led to the deep.
Falling behind ‘cause it runs through my mind like a need.
Caught in the web, you’re so easily led to the deep.

Creatures of the darkness know
How to keep the lights low.
Creatures of the darkness know
How to keep the lights low.”

[ The Deep – Phildel ]

The Deep is the opener of the new album, much like The Disappearance Of The Girl was for the previous one. Similarly, the two photos serve as an introduction to the respective projects.

Given this link, I decided to envision The Deep as the polar opposite of The Disappearance Of The Girl: while the latter portrayed Luisa as disappearing into the light, away from the viewer and with closed eyes, The Deep would have her emerging from the darkness towards the viewer and engaging them directly with both her gesture and gaze. Not only would it lin the two projects somehow, but conceptually it would also work perfectly with the lyrics and the seductive mood of the song. It was one of the first and easiest concepts I came up with in regards of the project, including a blueish colour wash, dramatic lighting from the side, a slightly downwards perspective and Luisa in a light-coloured outfit to stand out from the background.

One thing I wanted to experiment with was creating a natural gradient on Luisa’s dress, which I achieved by layering some black tulle on her rose skirt: a combination of short field of depth and progressively fuller netting made her fade into the background while also providing some texture.

Speaking of texture, I usually leave some from the backdrop, or add some subtle one when I have big dark areas such as this one; in this case, I decided to make the darkness as smooth and empty as possible to let it be as important a part of the photo as the model herself, to further dive a sense of depth or an abyss. I hope it worked out well!