MAMI WATA - photo shoot
Jan 3 2021
Concept: Mami Wata (Mammy Water) is a water spirit venerated in West, Central, and Southern Africa, and in the African diaspora in the Americas.
Mami Wata is a complex symbol with so many resonances that she feeds the imagination, generating, rather than limiting, meanings and significances. She is at once a nurturing mother; sexy mama; provider of riches; healer of physical and spiritual ills; and embodiment of dangers and desires, risks and challenges, dreams and aspirations, fears and forebodings. People are attracted to the seemingly endless possibilities she represents and, at the same time, frightened by her destructive potential. She inspires a vast array of emotions, attitudes, and actions among those who worship her, fear her, study her, and create works of art about her.
Often appearing with the head and torso of a woman and the tail of a fish, Mami Wata straddles earth and water, culture and nature. She may also take the form of a snake charmer, sometimes in combination with her mermaid attributes and sometimes separate from them. She can exist in the form of indigenous African water spirits known as mami watas and papi watas or assume aspects of a Hindu deity or a Christian saint without sacrificing her identity.
Eva Sita, who will be modeling, has a personal connection to the story of Mami Wata having been born and raised on the Ivory Coast.
Team:
Creative Direction & Photo - Alissa Wyle of Holy Smoke Photography @holysmokephotography
Model - Eva Sita @eva_sita
Styling - Camilla Adão @camillaadao
MUA - Sammy Singleton @sammysingleton
Pieces from Lace by Tanaya, etc.
