Two metres underwater, Keira Knightley is in her element. Calm, self-possessed and ethereally beautiful, she twists and turns as bubbles rise around her, her hair and dress undulating gently. The spell lasts for almost a minute, before she signals for the breathing apparatus a nearby diver is holding. What looks like the middle of the ocean is in fact a tank 6 metres deep, 10 metres wide and 20 metres long in Pinewood Studios, west of London. The bubbles and “currents” are created by divers letting air out of their tanks and moving their flippers.

The fashion photographer Candice directs proceedings in sign language from the bottom of the tank, wet-suited and prune-fingered, as her assistants swim over to rearrange props and clothes. An invisible wire tethers Knightley to the bottom of the tank by her toe. “I couldn’t see anyone in front of me, or hear anything,” says Knightley, “so I just stood there and tried not to drown.” In fact, though the star had never scuba-dived before, she took to it like a water baby. She was photographed last December, during a break from filming Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (out on Thursday). Wearing waterproof make-up and clothes chosen for their opacity when wet, at the start of the photoshoot she simply swam down from the surface to pose. But she quickly became so comfortable that she agreed to be anchored to achieve more elaborate shots, staying submerged for 20 minutes at a time.

These images are part of Candice’s continuing project, “fresh2o”, in support of WaterAid, the charity that provides solutions to the lack of clean water in Africa and Asia, building reservoirs, digging wells and improving sanitation. “We in the West live in a world of images and glamour, while a child in the Third World dies every 15 seconds because of illnesses relating to the lack of clean water,” says Candice. “If I can use my images to raise money and awareness, then everyone wins.” She hopes to persuade more celebrities to take the plunge, and to compile the images in a book, sell prints, find corporate sponsorship and develop an interactive website.

Her conventional SLR camera encased in an underwater housing, Candice is able to work as precisely as she would on the surface. Large buttons and handles make the controls easy to manipulate, and the housings are neutrally buoyant, so the camera is weightless in water. Not all of her models use scuba equipment. Nicko McBrain, the drummer in Iron Maiden, messed around on a drum kit while weighted down in a studio pool. The actress Tamzin Outhwaite surface-dived in a shallow pool while Candice lay on the bottom. “Every time I get into the water with someone new, it’s fabulous watching their reaction,” she says. “Once they get used to it, you can tell that they really enjoy it: the way your hair feels, the way your clothes move on your skin, the feeling of weightlessness. It’s as close as you can get to flying.”

For more information on the work of WaterAid, tel: 020 7793 4500 or visit www.wateraid.org

www.fresh2o.org
www.candice.co.uk