Ethan Bickel

Artist Statement

I began swimming open water in Lake Washington in the summer of 2008. I had forgotten somehow, that I love being in water. My earliest memories of lake swimming are from childhood when my family had a cottage on a small lake in Berkshire Co, MA. For several summers I found myself pondering how to photograph the feeling of being in open water. For me there is a sense of freedom in the water that’s akin to flying. It’s a curious position between two worlds - the underwater one and the sky above. In 2022 I decided it was time to try swimming with a small action camera. It was also the summer I was told that there were no more treatments available for the cancer I’ve been battling since 2019. The lake became my refuge more than ever before. It held me and supported me- at times like a mother and at others, like a lover.

Ethan Bickel | Portland, OR

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