The Unknown Swimmer

Personal work can take you on some pretty interesting journeys. Apart from the process itself, the final work can end up in editorial stories, photo books, exhibitions, and being used in ad campaigns.

In Melbourne photographer Jason Reekie’s case, one of his personal projects has become a chamber opera.

At a Christmas party way back in 2019, as the story goes, he was many drinks deep into the night, and threw out a challenge to a friend;

“Let’s swim every week, all through the year. Just bathers and cap. It’ll be cold in the winter but it’ll be a lark.”

He brought his camera along, cased in an underwater housing, mostly to distract himself from the cold, but then saw something special was happening in the images.

‘The Unknown Swimmer’ was born, buoying them both emotionally through the pandemic.

Turns out the Unknown Swimmer was a lady called Judith Doddsworth, a soprano and librettist (someone who writes operas and long vocal works).

The experience of swimming daily inspired her to write, and when she was approached by renowned composer Kevin March to come up with ideas for a chamber opera, it was the piece that she proposed.

The project lead to a 10 day paid residency in Adelaide, a funded performance there, several upcoming performances throughout Australia, and an exhibition in Melbourne, currently running until 23rd March. You can see more here.

When you create and share personal work – art, music, imagery, writing- it can take on a life of it’s own, and being open to collaborations and opportunities can lead you to places you never imagined.

Sharing your babies can be scary but so rewarding.

Have a lovely weekend.

If you’d like help developing a personal project, you can apply for an initial free call with me here. We’ll get clear on your direction, identify the areas you need to work on and discuss next steps.