How it Was Made: Kylli Sparre’s Wonder Wheels

Waterway Becomes Scooterway

The impossible seems possible in a dark Estonian river, thanks to Kylli Sparre’s composition, photographed as she lay face down on a rustic, railing-free bridge. The subject was able to sustain her pose thanks to a few large, flat rocks just under the surface of the water that supported her.

© Kylli Sparre

“The river wasn’t very deep this time of year and luckily quite warm as well,” Sparre says, “so it wasn’t as terrible as it might sound.” Sparre had painted the scooter white for contrast before the session. The most challenging aspect was the facial appearance, she says. “Posing there with one ear in the water—it was difficult to get a natural expression.”

What Sparre loves most about the image: “How the bottom foot curved above the break of the scooter. This just happened, and I was happy about that.”

Amanda Arnold is associate editor of Professional Photographer.