THE WATERBABIES IS THE STORY OF ONE BOY'S JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY AS HE TRAVELS TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN .....

The Waterbabies is Zena Holloway’s contemporary retelling of Charles Kingsley’s classic fairy tale, written in 1863. Collaborating with illustrator, Heidi Taylor, she brought to life the characters that were imagined by Kingsley over 150 years ago. The book was published in English, German and Spanish by PQ Blackwell, Blue Duck Books, Wild Dog Press, Oceano and Knesebeck in 2008.

A large scale Exhibition of the series toured Korea in 2018 and 2019.

““But there are no such things as water babies.
How do you know that? Have you been there to see?””

— Charles Kingsley

Charles Kingsley was born in England in 1819. He wrote The Water Babies; A FairyTale for a Land Baby for his youngest son in 1863, in the middle of Queen Victoria’s reign. Kingsley felt that the poor were treated very badly, and he was determined to expose the difficulties they faced – the widespread use of child labour, the lack of education, and the appalling conditions in which children were forced to live and work. Pollution of rivers, sanitation, and public health were also major problems in Victorian England. Many of these issues, as well as Kingsley’s passion for natural history, are reflected in The Water Babies.

Korea 2018

THE WATERBABIES EXHIBITION

The Water Babies Exhibition - South Korea

Some of the children in the book appear very young and must be extremely confident in the water. How do you source your models and what kind of audition process is involved?

I have been working with babies and young children underwater right from the very beginning of my career as a photographer. In the past I have been commissioned to photograph babies during swimming classes both in the United States and United Kingdom. With this background it was relatively easy to find the right children to play the characters, although I consider myself extremely lucky to have found such a sweet and adorable kid to play the lead role.

What were the most challenging shots in the book?

I believe the famous old chestnut of show business -never work with children or animals – is sound advice. I think I could add that, if you put them both together and shoot them underwater that’s asking for trouble. However the images of Tom swimming with otters, dogs and whales are certainly some of the most rewarding and I would do it all over again.