This is the second blog from my photoshoot holiday trip to Tenerife in April 2017. The first story, from Anaga, you will see here. There, I’m telling why I made this trip and how I put it together.
From ashes they will rise
Arenas Negras is big area located quite high in the mountains. The area it best known by its black sand, that can be seen everywhere you set your eyes on. The place is also filled with pine trees and above all that is Teide, a beautiful volcano that crowns the scenery, forming the highest peak of Tenerife. The whole area is stunning!
For this photoshoot, I had planned something that would tell about the volcanic nature of Tenerife. I brought a black and a red dress and one crazy headpiece with me. My wish was that my vision would become more clear as soon as I got see the place. One of my main goals for this trip was to get to know the locals and have some of them in front of my camera. In the journey to Arenas negras we drove with two lovely locals, the sisters Melania and Ylenia, who had agreed to be my models. It was really nice to talk to them while on the way.
The road was like a serpentine and the last kilometres of our journey we drove through a beautiful forest full burned trees, but that still rose from the ashes. Melania told me that those were trees that never die. It was such an inspiring thing!
We entered the area of black sand and I just gasped out of admiration. You could see at least 5 kilometres of black sand and pine trees in every direction. The endless scene was actually a huge challenge, because I just didn’t know where to start and where to settle. It was just too big! We just picked one spot and started to do the make-up and changing outfits.
The weather was around 15 celsius and my local models were feeling cold. I was fine because when I left from Finland it was still snowing quite a lot, even though it was April. (I felt horrible that my family was surrounded by snow and I was in a warm place!) So, for me, the weather in Arenas Negras felt quite warm :D.
The sun was the second challenge – it was harsh and very bright and there was a big contrast between the shadow and light areas. But I decided to manage it the best way I could.
Melania and Ylenia had never posed in front of camera as models before, but they took the challenge. I was really proud of them because they gave their all to me. In volcanic landscape, with the wind fluttering their hair and the fabric of their clothes Melania and Ylenia looked so beautiful and strong…
When I edited the pictures, I remembered the forest of immortal trees that we drove by. In my pics Melania and Ylenia made the lifeless desert alive standing fiercely on a black sand – like those trees which had been once burned but still rose from the ashes. For me the photoshoot became an allegorical story of power of growth that reminds us to stand strong on our own feet.
It was actually something that I had in my mind for the Arenas negras photoshoot, even though I was not able to see the whole story until I could put the pictures together.
While editing, I quickly wrote this:
Burning.
From fire to ashes.
But you’ll never fall.
Because deep inside
there is a spark that never dies.
You will grow your roots in the desert
becoming more beautiful and stronger
like never before.
Models: Melania and Ylenia
Assistant, the person who made this all possible: Tiia Sievilä
Photos & editing: Suvi Sievilä
