TITLE: Learning to Swim

my little one is learning to swim*

and yet there is something left: gills, fins. she is aquatic and terrestrial, still a thermophile,
enmeshed in intestines. almost a fish, a bit a turtle, a bit a root.
she may get hooked and stick to the ground, she may move into the belly
and live among algae. with the umbilical cord around her wrists.

the little one hopes that her desire to be with water is temporary,
and later everything will get back to normal: the sky, the ground, four walls, ninety degrees
in between. a window, a tree behind it, a window-sill, a table, a bed.
the little one believes that the webbing between her fingers can be bitten, and that teeth will do.

* poem by Ewa Świąc

The series explores the mother and daughter relationship; it is about the physical and the emotional distance that increases as the child grows and gains independence. It is about the feeling of immense pride and also great pain.

AUTHOR: Alicja Brodowicz (Poland)

Alicja Brodowicz – born in Kraków, Poland.

Graduate of the Faculty of English Literature at Universiteit Utrecht (the Netherlands). Translator by profession.

Graduate of the Institute of Creative Photography at the Silesian University in Opava, Czech Republic.

Finalist and laureate of multiple photography competitions (e.g. IRIS Award (Australia), Photography Annual Awards (Czech Republic), International Photography Awards (2013, honourable mention), B&W Child Photo Competition, International Photography Awards (2015, honourable mention), 7th Julia Margaret Cameron competition for women photographers (2015), MIFA 2015, (honourable mention)).

Publications in online and print magazines: SHOTS, GUP Magazine, Digital Camera Polska, Lens Culture.