Breathless

It was a simple black and white self-portrait, taken for an undergraduate photography course, and it was beautiful. Dolores floated atop the water, the small ripples creating wobbly rings of light over her dark swimsuit, a tell-tale flash cord snaking around her outstretched arm. Her hair a blonde jellyfish and her eyelashes clumped in threes. No pool for me, I tried it in my bathtub, head half-in-half-out of the water. Deaf-muted. This unsettling amniotic rhythm of breathing and heart beat translated into a moment of rebirth for my friend, but for me, I felt like I was being buried alive.

Image from Alegri Photos.