Swimming

Suzie
Nov 25, 2015
2 min read

A few months ago I had the privilege of shooting underwater with Moments Under Frame Photography.

It was my first underwater experience in front of the camera (with a professional camera, so to speak). This project was really special because I have always had a special relationship with water. All growing up we had a swimming pool in the back yard. I remember thinking that I was meant to live underwater. I would spend hours swimming around in that awesome pool, pretending to be a dolphin, and doing underwater summersalts. My record was 16 without air. I took it pretty seriously.

By the time I was 17 we'd moved as a family to a larger amount of property which did not have a pool. Instead, the corner piece of property crevised between a river, and an ocean. Ocean front on the left hand side, river front on the right. It wasn't until I was a bit older until I developed a bit of a fear for the water.

What happened: On the 13 acre property, there were a few spaces that flood water retained. Ponds were formed. Out of these areas, most were filled in and turned into attributions for the soon-to-be kids camp ( soccer fields, outdoor volleyball courts, etc). My parents decided, however to keep one of these pools, and turn it into a home for baby carribean reefsharks. This is when the fear first started. As my dad put word out in the village, they would bring to him, every couple of days, carribean reefsharks. I couldn't figure out how they caught them so quickly, and where? I made the foolish decision of asking one of the villagers, and he replied that the best place to find carribean reefsharks was right on the kusp of the ocean, where it

meets the river. That spot was litterally off the shorline of my backyard. As I understood that these baby reefsharks lived so close to my own home, I started to wonder what else lingered between the ocean and river currents. I don't want to be one who fears what I have not yet encountered in life. I don't want to be swallowed by negative pretext. So I swim. When I can, and with whoever will do this with me. To remind myself not to ever be over run by my fears. They are one of the smallest and most insignificant parts of me.