The Little Mermaid Photo

Photographer’s Note

The little Mermaid sitting at Langelinie in Copenhagen, is one of Denmark's biggest tourist attractions. The sculpture was put up in 1913, and has since then been the symbol of Denmark. Like the Eiffel tower in Paris and the statue of liberty in New York both have been very important for the two cities, so has the Little Mermaid been important for Copenhagen! I thought that I will never have a good shot of the Little Mermaid by itself. There so many tourist swarming all over it. I waited and I got rewarded with some good shots. But it took me some fast running to catch up with the tour group.
It is easy to see that The Little Mermaid is an important lady! More than on million people visit the mermaid every year. Thousands of post cards and, t-shirts and other souvenirs are sold to tourists. "She is so small", says most people seeing The Little mermaid for the first time. And she is. Only 1.25 meter (approx 4 feet) high, she is very small, sitting on her rock and looking at the water at Langelinie. Like a real mermaid, she is half human half fish. With naked breasts and fish tail, she is in her true element when the waves hits her rock. Maybe she is dreaming about leaving the big sea to find her Prince and an immortal soul.
For other picture of the Little Mermaid click on photo30026

jmfarace, Hanssie has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

Porteplume (3257) 2005-03-19 9:49

Bonjour André - Very classic shot of the Little Mermaid, but rather sharp and tightly framed to get her closer to us.

* A nice link is about the Little Mermaid getting a sad record, when it comes to vandalism, when compared to other famous national symbols. Have a look...

Amicalement - Viviane

Steft (5962) 2005-03-19 10:05

Yes, a classic one, I like her very much. Very sharp. I like the composition, because we don't see the ugly chimnies here. Only a bit overexposed the right on the stone, but on the rest of this statue, the light is very nice.

Hanssie (9133) 2005-03-20 14:02

I always liked this statue from pictures and once, I was in Copenhagen and searched for this girl and found it, somewhere down there along the dyke...... such a tiny statue, but so wonderful and you've captured her in a nice way, Andre !

BilboCA (734) 2009-07-27 21:17

Hi, Andre,

Denmark is the country where I've spent the 3rd most time (behind my home in USA and Israel). So, with all of your many countries to choose from, I was interested to see what you would do with Denmark. The Little Mermaid is maybe on that list of the most photographed sites, along with the Taj Mahal, the Tower of London, Niagara Falls, and the Golden Gate Bridge!

Then, I noticed that this photo has been viewed 25,000 times (!!!) but has only two critiques (!). Wow! You have done a nice service by bringing this photo to so many people.

I like your execution. (I've tried to photograph her myself and not done so well.) The lighting and angle are well chosen. We can see clearly and almost feel the texture of the metal and yet her face retains a bit of mystery and something of a demure quality. The only element that detracts from the image for me is the shadow in the lower right corner. But that is a small blemish on an otherwise fine photo.

Regards (from another Bay Area person),
- William

xenia_p (37) 2009-12-07 10:29

Hello Andre,
its the first time I notice that the little mermaid has in this statue neither a fishtail nor two legs. As if she doen't know what she is. I think both the statue and the picture show the mermaid's melancholy and nostalgia as is described in Andersen's book.