Saltwater Sisters

In the winter of 2021 I started taking photos of my friends during our cold water swims on our home beach of Budleigh Salterton, Devon, UK. Our dips in the ocean, together or alone, became something we craved. We found it made us feel better physically, mentally and on a soul level. It became our salt water therapy.

As I’ve stepped into my fourth decade, it’s taken some work, but I feel stronger, more beautiful and better equipped to deal with life’s curveballs than ever before. Stripping off and throwing myself into a mass of churning waves or slipping into silky sequinned liquid has played a big part in my holistic wellbeing. It provides a few moments of escapism and adventure in the day, is reinvigorating and revitalising.

We are in our element when we let go, immerse ourselves in nature and the water. At that moment, we are our primeval selves, connected to Mother Earth. That feeling, that connection, is powerful and it makes you feel powerful.

Through Saltwater Sisters, a photographic project capturing women in the waves, I want to help women forget their inhibitions, feel awesome and feel beautiful. In turn, I hope this feeling of empowerment extends to everyday life, for example, encourages women to focus only on their unique beauty when they look in the mirror, and to feel strong feminine energy flowing through them.

Never forget, inner beauty and confidence ooze through the pores of the skin. A smile always makes a face beautiful.

Saltwater Sisters is a gallery of female strength and beauty played out here, on my gallery page, and via my Instagram Dotty Creative.

The shoots are free, but I want to raise as much as possible for Women at Wish; a charity which supports women in need of some TLC and a bit of a break in life…