Most of us think a winter sea swim as challenge enough. How about fully submerging yourself in the icy water and making this underwater world an environment in which to capture subjects for your photographic creativity?
Nicola Miskin studied photography but didn’t pursue it as s career, instead returning to it once she discovered sea swimming just before Lockdown. The results are the ethereal dancing shapes and colours seen above and overleaf. We asked her about the cold, featuring on new Jersey Post stamps and Dryrobes.
You’ve been cold water swimming for six years, does it get easier?
Mentally yes , but physically no. I still find it hardest as the temperature drops at the end of summer, the anticipation of the cold to come!
How long do you stay in – do you need special wetsuits and equipment? I don’t time my swims, it depends on so many factors. You have to do what’s right for you on that day. Never stay in to be competitive, that’s dangerous. I guess I did that a bit in the beginning and it can feel awful afterwards and that’s not the point of it. I wear 2mm gloves when the sea goes below 10 degrees, I can still use my camera with thin gloves. I also wear boots in the winter which help when the sand or pebbles are freezing on the walk to the sea. And that’s it, just a swim suit.
Did you have a background in photography? were there new techniques to learn? I did a degree in Applied Photography many years ago at the University of Westminster, but haven’t incorporated photography in my working career. When I started sea swimming in 2018 I was given a battered third-hand underwater camera. As soon as I started to take photos below the surface I discovered something special and my creativity came back. It took some time and many cameras to achieve the images I wanted. The sea is forever moving and sometimes moving fast, the subject is moving and I am moving, it can be challenging. I learnt that just below the water’s surface the light is amazing and the reflections on the water’s surface create something very exciting to photograph.
Where is your favourite place to capture underwater Jersey? I really don’t have a favourite. We are so lucky in Jersey, all the bays are stunning. I get different images wherever I go. The northern pebble bays are very blue and the southern sandy bays have a greener, softer look. Each bay is unique and beautiful.
Your work is featuring on some Jersey Stamps. Philately will get you everywhere, how did that come about? Bernie Martin had just had her fabulous Lockdown Birds featured in a stamp edition. She messaged me and asked if she could show Jersey Post my Instagram feed. I guess it was perfect timing as Europa Stamp had just announced the 2023 theme would be Underwater Fauna & Flora. They contacted me and I created a gallery of potential images for them to view my work on my website. With the sad outbreak of war in Ukraine, Europa Stamp changed the theme to Peace for 2023. So the Underwater Fauna and Flora was moved to 2024.
Where is the best place for a post swim-and-shoot coffee-and-cake?
I swim so much that I never do it! We always have a thermos of herbal tea for an instant warm up then I want to get home to process my photos. But if I did have free time Plemont cafe would be my favourite, great coffee and cakes.
You’re probably one of the only people to legitimately need a Dryrobe. This week I’ve seen two on the school run and one going through an airport… make me a case for or against Dryrobes beyond the beach boundary….
They are absolutely amazing for post-swim, they are very warm and wind and water proof. Other than on one very very cold north coast walk; an outdoor night film viewing in the Royal Sq and a freezing Winter trip to the Outer Hebrides I have never worn mine anywhere else but after a swim. So the airport sighting could have been going to the Outer Hebrides?! I guess the school run wearer could have just swum? After a really cold swim you want to keep it on even if you need to pop to the supermarket. I think with the popularity of cold water swimming now we have to accept they are here to stay 🙂
nicolamiskin.com
