Mother

Analog film, underwater series

Mother series reimagines the archetype of the Madonna and the representation of motherhood across art history through an underwater, analog lens. Shot on a reclaimed Nikonos II camera using only natural light, the series embraces error, corrosion, and chance as collaborators, turning traces of ocean water and distortion into metaphors for imperfection, loss, and resilience. Working with my own daughter underwater, I want to offer a natural viewpoint on motherhood as a fluid state of becoming, where care, surrender, and transformation coexist. The water functions as both medium and metaphor for the maternal: protective yet consuming, intimate yet vast. Mother resists the traditional, often idealised gaze of motherhood and ocean imagery, proposing instead a feminine perspective grounded in empathy, presence, and the quiet strength found in everyday acts of care.