Rising Lioness - Cindy (Patreon)

One of my earliest pool shoots, and one that was rather eye opening for me.

I was looking for some people to skinny dip for me for some photos - i basically wanted to shoot some reference for some paintings my wife wanted to make of ama (Japanese diver women - erroneously referred to in the West as "pearl divers").  I thought it would be good practice for working my camera in its underwater housing so I could take better photos of fish and sharks and sea lions and such while on scuba diving trips.  Cindy was a friend of a friend, and volunteered to model for me, despite having no modeling experience, and never skinny dipping or having been naked around strangers.  She wasn't sure how she felt about it, and made no promises, but wanted to give it a try. We set up a day and planned to have lots props and outfits on hand (in case she didn't muster the courage to skinny dip with a near stranger).

The day we went to the pool was a strange one in Los Angeles.  A wildfire was burning in the nearby mountains, and wind was blowing ash across the city, which meant it was raining down into the pool.  Cindy changed into a little sun dress before getting in the pool and I just told her to enjoy the pool (it was a hot day in LA, as is usually the case in September).  She was a strong swimmer and comfortable being under the water, which was important. 

We didn't take shooting seriously, we were just joking and enjoying swimming - it is amazing how being in water can  start to hurl our mind back to childhood.  It happens nearly every time. Maybe this is why she found it easy to just go for it, and get out of that dress and start to swim free. Within minutes she had forgotten whatever hesitation she had and started to enjoy that feeling of freedom in the water.  Maybe the water itself is a safe place - like being back in the womb?

We stayed in the pool for almost 4 hours, and tried lots of things - different outfits, masks and other props - as the pool became increasingly mucked up with ash from the fire.  I discovered a lot of the types of images that I wanted to turn into series of images with other models for years to come.

Eventually we retired to the jacuzzi, where we fell into a long conversation, delving into topics that people don't usually get into the first time they hang out - fears and limitations drilled into us by culture and family and how debilitating it all can be, dreams for the future, dealing with the failure of relationships, and on and on.  I felt like in 4 hours, I learned more about Cindy than I would have had we just casually saw each other in group outings to dinner, clubs, karaoke, or whatever other nonsense we all fill our time doing in the city. Cindy later told me that the whole experience was surprisingly cathartic.  

Many other friends and models who decided to shoot with me have told me the same thing - some have come to me with a shame about their body/nudity, or with a fear of water or not being able to swim at all, or even shone up at the pool with ALL of those things. My underwater photo series was born out of this idea, that in some way the shoot may help someone overcome a fear, learn something about themselves, or at least try something new, while in exchange I get the chance to make an unusual image.

Hollywood Hills, CA. September 2009