IJnimfen

Photo documentary following a group of women who swim in the IJ river in Amsterdam everyday of the year. Come rain, snow or gale, the IJnimfen enter the water, in the name of perseverance and mental health.

Every morning, just after dawn, a small band of women step out from the Silodam and slip into the steel-grey IJ river in Amsterdam. Since December 2020 I’ve joined them—sometimes in the water—to document this daily ritual and the ties it forges: between the swimmers themselves, their riverside homes, and the cold that steadies the mind. IJnimfen traces the passage from apartment to river, where a few minutes of immersion is part mental health check and part act of resolve. I was curious how — amid swans, passing ships, and winter chop — routine and community intersect, and how a shared plunge can reshape the day.