Ballet beneath the waves: Exhibition of other-worldly scenes on shipwreck 100ft below the ocean's surface



A shipwreck 100ft under the sea has been turned into one of the world's most unlikely art galleries.

The U.S. Navy ship lying on the seabed off the Florida coast has been transformed into a submarine photography exhibition by photographer and diver Andreas Franke.

As divers explore, they are confronted with snapshots of eerie figures going about their day-to-day lives in the very surroundings the divers find themselves in.

Eerie: Ballerinas practice their dance moves in this eerie image created by photographer Andreas Franke and displayed underwater

The ship, the USS General Hoyt S.Vandenberg, was sunk to form an artificial reef off the Florida keys in 2009. At 523ft long it is the world's second largest artificial reef.

Mr Franke went on a dive to see the wreck last year and was truck by how bare it was, as it takes years for the reef to form properly. He saw it as a blank canvas and was inspired to put something on it.

Returning to his Vienna studio, he picked his best shots of the wreck then dressed models to fit in with them. He shot ballet girls warming up, people at a cinema and people kick-boxing.

Using computer trickery he came up with 12 scenes, encased the pictures in plexiglass with a stainless steel frame and revisit the wreck to exhibit his art.

A silicone seal keeps the water out and they are attached with magnets to prevent any damage on their removal.

'Reality merges with the unreal': Mr Franke was inspired to make the exhibition after diving down to the wreck last year

Mr Franke, an advertising photographer who has been in the business for more than 20 years, said: 'In my photography I try to construct illusionistic worlds far beyond the often shallow and eye-catching ad business.

'This is why my works are always based on a strict concept, which has to be photographically and technically perfectly implemented.

'Every little detail is part of a precisely arranged production.

'It is a very special and bizarre underwater world between yesterday and tomorrow. A submarine exhibition in a world where reality merges with the unreal.'

The ship was originally launched in 1943 as the USS General Harry Taylor. It was retired in 1983 and used as a movie set before being sunk in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.

Don't fall in. Oh, you already have... Mr Frankel says his eerie works are meant to capture 'a very special and bizarre underwater world between yesterday and tomorrow'

The exhibition, The Vandenberg, Life Below the Surface, opened in August.

Mr Franke added: 'It is a fantastic world below the surface. That is what people will see there, mystified scenes of the past that play in a fictional space - dream worlds where you can get lost or you can identify with.

'This makes a new and unexpected atmosphere.

'The work shows very much of myself since I always look out for stunning themes and to show new imageries that have never been seen before.'

Divers explore the eerie exhibition on the the USS General Hoyt S.Vandenberg



