The Fisherwomen, 2016

Since the very beginning of my career, I had the opportunity to exhibit in Japan. I read about the Ama in 2015 and thought what a fantastic group of women. They were under the radar as the last generation of divers that have been diving for more than 500 years. I was able to locate the stories and portraits of a time that impressed me the most between 1930-1932.  These women worked as a team using their naked bodies to sustain in frigid waters to collect seaweed, abalone, and pearls, which they would later sell on the docks. Because they had more body fat than men, the Ama became iconic in this society as the women’s only diving team. They made more money than men and hugely respected in Japan. I chose this period because of the amount of training that it takes to stay warm in cold waters while holding their breath for 3 minutes and rowing their boats on and off the land was profound during a critical time in the world.