Swimming Through

One of my passion projects is photographing Lake Michigan at sunrise during the winter. As a transplanted New Yorker, I never cease to be amazed by the beauty the lake brings to Chicago. The winter of 2021 during the pandemic lockdown, being out at sunrise and connecting with the other photographers who were also out there, was immensely healing. In February, there was a story in the Chicago Tribune about three women who were swimming each morning at sunrise in Lake Michigan throughout the winter and how that commitment brought them together and was keeping them sane. I was instantly enthralled. Their passion echoed mine, although much more bravely!

This film was a chance to focus on the beauty of nature here in this big city and how that brought together three women with a shared passion and how the friendship they developed around that passion helped them survive through such a difficult time.