Slippery Situation

Slippery Situation

Photographed by

 Aviva Stein-Wotten

I came up with the concept for this shoot way back in April 

when I learned that the oil company Enbridge had plans to build 

a major pipeline from the Alberta tarsands to Kitimat on the

 northern coast of British Columbia. Even closer to home is a proposed twinning of the already existing TransMountain pipeline in Burnaby, BC owned by

 Kinder Morgan which in order to build would require dredging the Second Narrows. 

The possibility of this pipeline being built scared me to my core. The devastation it would cause when (because it is a matter of when not if) the pipeline leaked or a super tanker carrying the diluted bitumen along the treacherous inlets between Kitimat and the

 open ocean were to crash was too sickening to not do anything to stop.  

The thought of our beautiful beaches covered in disgusting oil made me want to cry. Instead I decided to combine my passion for photography and my love of the ocean to spread awareness of the impending pipeline construction.  My idea was to show models, Teresa and Shena, covered in "oil" (I used an awesome recipe from Green Peace) to depict what it would be like to visit our beaches covered in oil. 

In fact, we wouldn't visit them at all. They would essentially be dead. 

I shot Teresa on location at Sebastian Beach in Lantzville, BC. The magnificent sheets of gnarled rock along the perimeter of the beach are breathtaking and are perfectly curved in places so one can relax comfortably while suntanning. (I'm sure this is exactly what dear Mother Nature had in mind while the rocks were forming, but nonetheless they are beautiful). The waves wash up and form deep tidal pools in the twisted caverns of the rock. Each pool is teaming with life--starfish, urchins, barnacles and umpteen different varieties of seaweed.  

For Shena I went to my favorite beach, Piper's Lagoon. 

It's a beach I grew up with and I couldn't imagine living without it. 

It's also a beach I've used for a couple of my other shoots.

We trekked way out to the point, the same place one can watch 

sea lions feeding on herring in the spring and snuck around 

the corner to a little beach tucked into the rocky cliffs.

I used gold and black as my color pallet. Nail lacquer in gold with dripping black blobs to represent oil. All the clothes are second hand.

If you love the beaches around here and want to get involved in saving them from the devastation of an oil spill you can get involved in your local community. There is an emerging Sierra Club Nanaimo whose mission at the moment is to stop the twinning of Kinder Morgan's TransMountain Pipeline as well as to halt the construction of Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline. In addition, there are other local Sierra Club groups if you're not in Nanaimo you can join. You can urge your local city counsel and provincial and federal government to step up and say NO to a pipeline and YES to creating infrastructure for an alternative, clean energy future. You can tell one person about what is happening so everyone has a chance to exhibit their democratic rights and tell the government what they want--Super Natural British Columbia sans oil and tankers!

All photos ©2012 Aviva Stein-Wotten

An Oily Day

Yesterday I shot my anti-oil campaign shoot at Sebastian Beach in Lantzville. We started out early at 8am at Rachelle's house. I brought the girls, sorry models, coffees and we sat in the living room painting nails and flipping through past issues of Paris Vogue for inspiration while Rachelle's Great Dane/Lab, Benson, kept us company.

Benson observes the fine art of nail painting.

Then each model took their turn at the makeup chair while Erika swept on blacks and golds across their eyelids and bronzed their pretty cheeks.

Erika does her magic on Shena

Prep time took a little longer than I thought, but then it always does. Every one tried on different outfits to see what would work best on them. It's often difficult to judge what will work when you're piecing through thrift store racks. Sometimes you come across amazing finds and then you say to yourself, "I hope this fits!". I was lucky that each girl wound up wearing what I had originally planned for them.


The whole morning the sun kept intermittently peeking out from behind the clouds. By the time we got to the beach around noon the sun is fully out, but there is wind!

All bundled up!

All the models were so into the shoot. Even little Sam, who had to leave early because she was feeling under the weather, got all made up and sat for a few shots.  What a trooper! 

Teresa, a seasoned surfer, was used to cold waters and didn't hesitate to jump at the opportunity to go in the ocean. Rachelle and Shena both followed suit soon after.

Teresa and Rachelle dunk their heads in to get that beach hair look.

I had fun, the girls had fun. I hope if nothing else people spread the word on what's happening on our coast. I love shooting at the beach and I cannot bear the thought of it covered in actual oil.

Stoppin' the Tankers

Tomorrow I will be shooting on location at Sebastian Beach in Lanztville. I have four lovely models this time three of which have already appeared on my blog, Shena, Teresa and Rachelle and a newbie to the group, Sam. I am very much looking forward to this new shoot. This is probably the first shoot with a concept that is very dear to my heart and also for many of my followers, it is a topic close to home.


It is an anti-oil shoot and more specifically targeted at stopping the proposed pipelines in B.C. One pipeline proposed by the company Enbridge called the Northern Gateway Pipeline would run right through the Great Bear Rainforest in B.C. one of the last completely intact temperate rain forests in the world and home to the endangered Spirit Bear not to mention countless other wildlife. It would run from the tar sands in Alberta to Kitimat, B.C. Once there, super tankers would have to wind their way through a maze of narrow channels and points, at some places making almost ninety-degree turns. All of this plus imagine doing that in the middle of our winter storms! Good luck! In Burnaby, B.C., Kinder Morgan wants to twin their already existing Trans Mountain Pipeline and expand the amount of tankers leaving the Burrard Inlet. Because these super tankers are so big (they are longer than the Eiffel Tour is tall) this would require dredging the harbor, basically scrapping and digging into the bottom of the ocean floor ruining an ecosystem. 


By doing this photo shoot my hope is to spread the word on what is happening on our remarkable coast. I travel a lot and whenever I tell people where I'm from they always say "You are so lucky to live there. It is one of the most beautiful places in the world". Well, I say let's keep it that way! 

A Fisher's Delight

Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky at morning, sailor's warning. Well, I cannot recall if the sky was in fact red that morning, but it sure did kick up a storm by afternoon. I could only shoot one ensemble because of this. However, the weather did give the photos a certain sea-fareing mood. I do think I brought home a good catch for the day even with the weather. Mika seemed very at home by the sea; perhaps it was her biology background. I chose an oversized loose knit sweater to resemble a fishing net 

and Jenna twisted Mika's hair into a perfect fish-bone plait. 

I applied heavy silver and blue eyeshadow to elicit shiny scales and highlighted Mika's cheeks with a flash of red--the color a salmon turns during spawning season. 

All Photos © 2012 Aviva Stein-Wotten

All clothing Gap except chunky green sweater and tights, Model's own.

Hair:  Jenna Madill at Flip Side Hair Salon

Make-up, Concept and styling: Aviva Stein-Wotten

New Photos Arriving At Your Eyes Shortly

Hello all you amazing people who follow this blog (lately there has not been a lot to follow, sorry) and those who come for a short visit now and then.

I have just completed part 1 of my newest photo shoot with the one and only adorable Mika. They are in post-production at the moment and will arrive on screen very soon.

Thanks for your continued comments, of which I always welcome more.

Hasta pronto todos!

Wrap It Up

Wrap It Up

Photographed & Styled By Aviva Stein-Wotten

There was a slight chill in the air the day I dreamt up this photo shoot. 

 I had recently revisited the Pre-Fall 2011 collections and fell 

in love all over again with Diane Von Furstenburg.  

All I wanted was to wear a wrap dress and a turtleneck! 

Unfortunately, the day of the shoot was not turtleneck weather,

 but Madison toughed it out like a pro. 

I tied a scarf like a turban (as best I could) for a slightly sultry look on Rachelle.  

In this story:

Hair, Jenna Madill at

Flip Side Hair Design.

Makeup, Aviva Stein-Wotten

All Photographs © 2011 Aviva Stein-Wotten 

A La Playa

A La Playa

Photographed by 

Aviva Stein-Wotten

When thinking of the beach and the ocean two things immediately come to mind: sailors and color (the first one normally lingers for a while).  These were my inspirations for this shoot.  In keeping with the trends of the season, I also infused a few '70s inspired looks.   

Sailor Spirit 

High-rise

white shorts

complement

any bikini top. 

Azure High

Bright Blue 

paired with

leopard print

brings a 

little exotica

to the beach.

Sunning the Day Away

Leopard and gold,

nothing better.

Stolen Moment

There's no 

camouflaging 

with this bold,

coral statement. 

On the sand, in the sun, don't hesitate to 

pull out all the stops!

In this story:

Teresa's Hair 

styled by

Jenna Madill,
FlipSide Hair
Design.

Make-up, styling, 

and concept:

Aviva Stein-Wotten




All photos © 2011 Aviva Stein-Wotten