bridging two seemingly separate worlds
from underwater
to underground
Underwater photography.
Specialised in creating still and moving images underwater.
Using the solitary and open space of the ocean environment, Zena Holloway takes the underwater aesthetic and makes her own magical setting. Her images capture the deep, and often complex subconscious connections we have to oceans, rivers and lakes.
Born in Bahrain and raised between London and pretty much everywhere else in the world, she went on her first dive in England as a teenager. She lived in Egypt and then the Caribbean for a number of years before qualifying as a PADI instructor and Commercial Diver. Charmed by the magic of the underwater world, she began experimenting with a camera and decided to chart her own course in an ultra-niche profession. Nobody showed her the ropes; she taught herself.
Maker & material innovator.
Zena Holloway grows sustainable fashion and sculpture, from grass root and takes an intuitive leap into the future to imagine a material world that is grown, not made.
Zena Holloway’s career as an underwater photographer made her acutely aware of the true depth of the plastic crisis in our oceans and rivers. The camera exposes pollution so visible, so devastating and so guilt-inducing that it led her to search for solutions in material science and biodesign.
She grew mycelium in her basement for a year before encountering the tangled root system of a willow tree in her local river: What if we could grow our clothes from seed?
The idea took root and grew. In 2023 she founded Rootfull® - a material innovation company, developing a new generation of root textile solutions for the circular economy.
The innovation pioneers a method of growing wheatgrass into templates carved from beeswax. Over 12 days the shoots grow to 20cm while the root binds below to form a naturally woven structure. The ingredients are organic and locally sourced with sustainability at the heart of the process. Water is reused from runoff and any leftover shoot or seed is eaten as animal fodder.
The pieces show that the power of plants is infinitely renewable and nature’s amazing capabilities are simply waiting for us to tap into.
Clients Include:
B&H (Leo Burnett, Mexico), Built with Chocolate Milk (Campbell Ewald NY), English National Opera, The Royal Ballet, Pepsi, Speedo, Radox (Grey), Camay (Leo Burnett, Hong Kong), Nike, Herbal Essences (Leo Burnett, London), Umbro, Olay (Saatchi & Saatchi NY), Jacuzzi (Y&R San Fran), Greenpeace (Saatchi & Saatchi, London), Shangri-La (O&M, HongKong), Sony (TBWA), EMI, GlaxoSmithKline (Ogilvy), Epson (Burkitt DDB) and the BBC
Awards & Nominations:
Chelsea Flower Show Silver Medal (2023), Aesthetica Art Prize (2022), Green Concept Award (2022), Toast rewilding competition (2021), Underwater Photographer of the Year (2020), Photoshoot Awards NUDES (2020), Beautiful Bizarre (2019), MPA (2018), ND Awards (2017), Fine Art Photo Awards (2017), Communication Arts (2012, 2010, 2004), PDN, Cannes (2013), Applied Arts (2010, 2009, 2008, 2006), AoP (2009, 2008, 2006, 2002, 1999), IPA (2012, 2006), Nikon international (2003) and RPS (1999).
Editorials & Books:
Country Living, Selvedge, Gardens Illustrated, Livingetc, Designboom, Colossal, Resurgence & Ecologist, Peppermint, Positive News, National Geographic, Dazed&Confused, Paris Match, How to Spend it, Harpers Bazaar, GQ, Vanity Fair, The Observer, 125, Stylist, Quintessentially Magazine, JFW, Twill, Vision, Neon, Schon, Cent magazine and The Sunday Times.
Shows & Exhibitions
2023 Mills Fabrica, 1st October - 31st March 2024 - Kings Cross, London (current)
2023 Formed X Future Heritage, 9th - 13th October 2023, Chelsea, London
2023 RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2023, Belgravia, London
2023 de le Cuona, for London Craft Week, Belgravia, London
2023 Collect Craft Fair, Somerset House, London
2023 Gallery 57, ‘Earth Materials’, West Sussex, UK
2022 Ground Work Gallery, ‘Deepwater’, Norfolk, UK
2022 Material Matters, for London Design Festival, Oxo Tower
2022 YKSI Expo, & BioArt Laboratories for DDW, Netherlands
2022 Milan Design Week – root dress, Italy
2022 Raw Assembly – root dress, Melbourne, Australia
2022 Design Walk (MCBW)– root dress, Munich, Germany
2022 Culture Sphere Gallery – root sculpture, Germany
2021 Toast Rewilding Exhibit – root sculpture, London
2021 Public art space Askersund– Vättern, Sweden
2019 Dongtan Art Space, waterbabies, Korea *
2019 Upon Walls – Rivers of Vättern, Sweden
2019 GunSan Art Center, waterbabies Korea *
2018 Museum of Moscow, Immersion Russia *
2018 UpOn Walls – Fluid, Sweden *
2018 UpOn Walls – Vättern, Sweden
2018 Cheonan Museum of Art, waterbabes, Korea *
2018 Yongin Art Center, waterbabes, Korea *
2018 508 Kings Road Gallery, Seawomen, London
2018 Art Palm Beach, Seawomen Florida
2017 Scope Art Show, Seawomen, Miami
2017 Bridgeman Gallery, London
2016 Musée de la Porte Doreé, Swansong, Paris
2016 MBC, Daegu, Solo Exhibit, South Korea *
2016 Cinema Center, Busan, Solo Exhibit, South Korea *
2015 Changwon Foundation, Solo Exhibit,South Korea *
2015 Hyundai Art Center, Ulsan, Solo Exhibit South Korea *
2015 Seoul Art Center, Solo Exhibit, South Korea *
2014 Saatchi Gallery, London Swansong
2014 Calken Gallery, London *
2013 Elle Décor’s show house, Miami, Scattered *
2012 London Art Fair, Swansong
2012 Affordable Art Fair, London, Swansong
2012 Bo.Lee Gallery, UK, Swansong *
2011 Tatar Gallery, Canada, Swansong
2011 Schouwburg, Netherlands, Swansong *
2010 The Hospital, London UK, Swansong
2009 Cosa Gallery, London UK, Swansong
* denotes solo
Zena Holloway is proud to be a company supporter of
Marine Conservation Society
