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Royal Caribbean set a new record in May of 2016 when they launched their 1,188-foot-long and 215.5-foot-wide Harmony of the Seas cruise ship. The ship holds 8,880 people and has 4 swimming pools, 10 hot tubs, 2 surf simulators, 2 rock climbing walls, 2 ten story dry slides, an aqua theatre, a miniature golf course, a water park, a spa and fitness center, a casino, an ice rink, and countless other amenities. Italian photographer Alberto Bernasconi got the chance to shoot what he calls The Floating Village in action.
I’ve never been on a cruise ship before this experience, and I was very curious about what it would be like. As I read online about the new Harmony of the Seas, I thought it would be a good opportunity for me to explore the ship with my camera. I asked Royal Caribbean if I could join the cruise and they kindly accepted my request.
Preproduction for Alberto’s project was pretty minimal. It was a self-assigned project that he planned to pitch to news outlets, and he had free reign of the ship for the entire cruise. Being in charge of the shot list allowed Alberto to walk the ship with the rest of the passengers and take images from their perspective.
I tried to explore the boat the way the passengers do. I tried to find what they would look for and what they usually demand. The boat is made to answer all of your needs. It is very comfortable and reassuring both physically and mentally. So much so that most of the people don’t even get off the boat to visit the places they reach.
Alberto has had some great responses to the photos and even had them used by a number of news networks and blogs. Bloomberg, Telegraph, Wired, and Italian magazines IL and Mare have all decided to use Alberto’s images in their spreads.
The reaction has been excellent. I had my good friend Manila Camarini, a photo editor for an Italian magazine, help me cut the 1200 images down to around 60. It was a hard process and I couldn’t have done it on my own.
The constant change in subject matter and the extravagance of the Harmony of the Seas has left Alberto wanting to shoot more cruise ships. He likes the idea of shooting themed cruises in the future.
To see more of Alberto’s work, check out albertobernasconi.com.