A KALTBLUT exclusive. Photography by Janne Teuschel. The model is Alyssa Wilhelms. Makeup by Jana Uellendahl. Fashion by Josephine Chenoa Traxel. Lashes by Fabienne Piqu. This editorial reimagines the narrative of The Little Mermaid through the lens of power, transformation, and reclamation. Drawing visual and conceptual inspiration from the sea witch, the story shifts her from the role of villain to a symbol of autonomy, physical presence, and unapologetic identity.
Set within the stark emptiness of a drained swimming pool, the narrative begins with the model lingering, pressed against its walls – displaced, contained, and stripped of her natural element. The pool becomes a hollow ocean, a space where control is imposed, and power is momentarily suspended.
As the story unfolds, the figure begins to question what is above & to climb. This act marks a turning point: a moment of self-directed transformation. The emergence of visible legs references the iconic exchange of body and voice in the original tale, but here, transformation is not a sacrifice, but a conscious reclaiming. The body is no longer a site of loss, but of agency.
Reaching the surface, the environment slowly shifts into a shiny, chrome-silver landscape. Artificial, reflective, and detached, this world represents a constructed reality that values surface over depth. Within it, the witch appears both confrontational and out of place, half-lying, half-sitting, challenging the norms of this environment and asserting a presence that resists assimilation.
Yet the narrative does not end at the surface. The figure returns to the pool, but transformed. No longer confined to its edges, she stands centred, grounded, and in control. The space that once contained her is now hers entirely. What was once emptiness becomes territory.
Through sculptural forms, fluid volumes, and a dark, commanding aesthetic, the styling channels the sea witch not as a character, but as an attitude that embraces excess, strength, and the rejection of imposed narratives. The sleeves floating throughout the space as if it was filled with water, like tentacles and the lashes enlarging and also alienating the eyes.
The editorial „BELOW / ABOVE“ ultimately tells a story of displacement and return, of transformation without loss, and of reclaiming both body and space. It is not about becoming something else, but about taking ownership of what was always there.
photographed by Janne Teuschel / instagram: @janneegal
model: Alyssa Wilhelms / instagram: @lyssaxmochi
makeup by Jana Uellendahl / instagram: @jana.uel
lashes by Fabienne Piqueras / instagram: @fabienne.pqrs
fashion by Josephine Chenoa Traxel / instagram: @josephinechenoa
“I’m Janne Teuschel, a 23-year-old German photographer working with people, tension, and the space in between. I’m drawn to contrasts – soft and harsh, presence and absence – and the quiet friction they create within an image. I’m not interested in perfection, but in images that hold a certain unease – something that lingers, questions, and stays.”
