Mother

Mother is an underwater analog series that examines the dual nature of inheritance: the intimate legacy passed down to my daughter and the historical weight of the photographic medium itself. Shot on a reclaimed, broken Nikonos II, one of the earliest com

Mother is an underwater, analog series that examines the complex nature of inheritance, both what we pass down and what we are forced to carry. Working alongside my daughter, the project observes the quiet transfer of legacy: our physical similarities, her distinct way of being, and, most profoundly, her innate confidence within the ocean. The water functions as both the medium and the stage on which this personal inheritance unfolds, serving as a metaphor for the maternal bond itself: protective yet consuming, intimate yet vast.

Parallel to this familial lineage is the inheritance of the medium. The series is shot on a reclaimed, broken Nikonos II, one of the earliest commercial underwater cameras ever available. Along with this physical object, I inherited the foundational history of underwater photography: a tradition that historically prioritised mechanical perfection, conquest of the elements, and an idealised, objective gaze. Mother acts as a conscious rejection of this legacy. By embracing the camera’s flaws, light leaks, and the ocean's corrosive marks on the negatives, I am actively dismantling that traditional gaze.

The physical degradation of the film becomes a metaphor for the reality of mothering: imperfect, messy, and deeply transformative. These images explore an emotional landscape where heartbreak, surrender, and joy coexist. By allowing the ocean to physically alter the inherited tools of the past, the series proposes a new feminine perspective grounded in empathy and presence. The resulting visual world is strange and disorienting, haunted by the histories we inherit, yet actively rewriting the myths we leave behind.