DEEP IN bloom By Sarah Halfpenny Photos Yanni and supplied
J
aye Selga had built a successful side career photographing portraits of women and families, when the birth of her son upended everything. “After becoming a mum I nearly gave photography up altogether; it had been a chaotic year, but the universe had other plans,” says Jaye. With no spare room left at home to shoot indoors, instead she began taking portrait and glam shoots outdoors along the peninsula coastline. To satisfy her creative side, she then set out to try something different: photographing mermaids. A search online led her to Marianna the Mermaid, a professional performer who agreed to model for her. “After that first shoot at Rosebud beach I was obsessed,” says Jaye. That single afternoon “opened up an entire world of learning, opportunities, friendships that eventually led me to my first exhibition, and into competitions,” she says. That obsession grew into a distinct visual language built on
I missed the smell of salty air, and the comfort of knowing I was close to the ocean breath-hold, fabric, movement and natural light, with portraits that sit somewhere between photography and painting. These days Jaye moves between three identities - mother, registered nurse and underwater fine art photographer - and all three are threaded through Bloom, her debut exhibition, which showed at Oak Hill Gallery in Mornington in June. Water has always meant home for Jaye. She grew up in Roxas City, the self-declared seafood capital of the Philippines, and has lived on the Mornington Peninsula since September 2011. “I’ve never lived far from a body of water,” says Jaye. The only exception was a stint studying in Bendigo; landlocked and hard to bear. “I missed the smell of salty air, and the comfort of knowing I was close to the ocean,” she says. continued page 36...
34 | PENINSULA essence August 2026