They’ve been a part of ocean folklore for thousands of years.
Mermaids have been the stuff of myth, and legends.
Now, a photographic exhibition in Santa Barbara is feeding the fantasy, featuring images of mermaids.
"Well, I was teaching this underwater photo class," said Ralph Clevenger, who's a well known Santa Barbara photographer who taught at Brooks Institute, and UC Santa Barbara for years.
He says it morphed from a class where they would shoot natural things like fish to more practical commercial applications. "So I needed models...mermaids," said Clevenger.
One of his students said she had a friend who was a mermaid, which opened the door.
The just opened exhibition at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum features photos of 16 mermaids taken by Clevenger, and some of his friends and former students.
We walk over to one of Clevenger’s photographs, which features a mermaid who looks like she is sleeping in a plant bed on the ocean.
"This was taken out here, in the Channel Islands," said Clevenger. "I would go out first, and swim around, and find appropriate backdrops," he said.
"We would go back out with the model," he continued. "I gave her a mask, and showed her what I wanted her to do. The concept was you were swimming along, and you come across a sleeping mermaid."
He says it wasn't easy for the model. She had to do four dives before they got the shot.
But. it’s one thing to see a photo of a mermaid, and it’s another to meet one. Kaia Kabiak has been a mermaid for more than a decade.
"While in college, my girlfriends and I started a non-profit called 'Save The Mermaids'. We were doing environmental and education based work with kids and adults," said Kabiak. "We were trying to bridge the gap between science and fantasy to get people excited about working on the ocean...things like plastic pollution."
It led to her becoming a mermaid, a job which took her around the world for photo shoots.
Maritime Museum officials say they are excited to be presenting “Mermaids-Myths and Legends.” It’s actually opening more than a year later than originally planned, because of the pandemic.
They'll be on a boat out in the harbor, and people can also sign up through the museum's website to take photos with them.
Clevenger says it’s fun to be able to bring a bit of folklore to life, Or, is it folklore? He says some people believe they exist.
“Mermaids: Visualizing the Myths and Legends" runs through April 22 at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum.
