Jeb Corliss, and I traveled to Palau where we had planned to do some ship wreck & shark diving, and although sunken Japanese active war heads were fun for a minute.. what we really were amazed by was one particular cave deep down while diving. Exploring pitch black, extremely small crevices in the depths of the ocean was at times thrilling, but when a little light was shun, what we found was haunting. Complete skeletons from sea turtles! Turtles would swim there way in to the labyrinth of this cave to sleep; however, with no light they would get lost, and ultimately suffocate.
As if all of that wasn't enough, our trip was not complete until I got to experienced what I went there for... 5 million Jellyfish. I Always enjoyed the mysticism of the deep, the folklore tails of Mermaids, and usually in those stories where there were mermaids there were Jellyfish. Pulsating, and fluctuating with charm, relying only on movement for sustenance of their life. The most powerful, and yet so fragile all at the same time.
After the first day of specking it out, I went back a 2nd day. I filmed myself solo for 7 hours with jellyfish. Self Portraiture for the first time is not easy, but how about holding your breath underwater, wrangling jellyfish, controlling exposure & light with no assistants, and trying to maintain a on camera face. Wait, then the cherry on top- being in the nude. What better way to push the envelope with myself. What better way to accept vulnerability, but also demonstrate the ultimate picture of harmony & connection to nature. Aesthetically too, the visuals of glowing Medusa (jellyfish), Jade green water, and the golden light of sun rays hitting the skin was all I needed to see, and there wasn't another choice then to go all in. -Palau (photo credit-Amber Arbucci, Jeb Corliss)
