Interviews with Wild Swimmers

I spent the summer of 2021 photographing wild swimmers (mostly in North Wales) modeling the swimwear I’ve created for my shop, swimwear printed with my artwork. Part of the process was to explore the women I photographed with regards to their views on wild swimming and also, primarily, about their relationships with their bodies. Here are the interviews I have done so far.

Hannah Hogan

Meet Hannah Hogan. Part human, part mermaid, modeling my “Intergalactic” costume. The biggest and loveliest thing I took from meeting, photographing, and interviewing Hannah, is her genuinely accepting attitude towards her body. Her journey through life has been “really learning to accept everything” as it is. Having a baby three years ago and her body shape changing dramatically as a result meant Hannah was thrown into a situation where she recognised the necessity to fully address the lack of acceptance she felt about the changes following the pregnancy. So during the past three years, Hannah has been on a real healing journey, learning to embrace and love her body and to accept the changes. She feels that her relationship with her body is reflective of her “relationship with everything – not trying to force it to change”. On the days she feels dissatisfied, she uses those feelings to see within herself what still needs healing, asking “why do I feel that way and what do I need to work out in me that is making me feel that way.” Without those negative feelings, she feels she wouldn’t be able to clear that stuff.

“why do I feel that way and what do I need to work out in me that is making me feel that way.”

And on Hannah’s relationship with water: “For me, I absolutely love the water. Since I can remember, the water has been my safe haven. When I was younger I would swim down to the bottom of the swimming pool and swim around the lights, and felt like I could remember all these past lifetimes where I was a water being. And now, I feel such a yearning to be in water. Being in the water makes me feel like my body doesn’t even exist, it is just part of everything else.”Both of us enjoyed this photoshoot and Hannah was totally up for my crazy underwater suggestions. 

This design is called “intergalactic” and was inspired by (unsurprisingly) outer space! I LOVE painting space and the Galaxy and I am loving this swimwear project! The design can be found in my shop here: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/intergalactic-one…/

Gabriella Williams

The lovely lady modelling this Jellyfish swimming costume is Gabriella Williams. We did the shoot on a little island in Llyn Padarn lagoons which was covered in huge strange fungi (and duck poo!).

Like I said in my recent blog, I’ve never had a hugely positive attitude towards my face and body, and I don’t think this is particularly uncommon for women. From talking to Gabby, I actually felt a sense of relief that I wasn’t alone with these kind of thoughts, but it’s also disheartening to realise that it’s so widespread. I dream of a world where all women feel relaxed and at ease about their appearances. Gabby, like myself, has always felt (and even as a child) that something about her physical form “was wrong, or needed to be changed” and constantly compared herself to others. I asked Gabby what had attracted her to do the photoshoot and she said because I had promised not to photoshop people’s bodies and because she trusted me. She also liked the idea of imperfect models. After the shoot we talked about “how anyone can look beautiful or otherwise in a photo, depending on lighting, angles etc.” This conversation had a hugely positive effect on Gabby (as it did on me when I first realised it after getting into photography). She said she “felt ‘good enough’ which is very rare!” And was able to “stop comparing [her]self to others.”

I asked whether wild swimming had any effect on the way Gabby feels about herself or her mental health in general? Gabby said “Yes. Instead of obsessing about how I look, it makes me proud of how strong and resilient my body is – it can tolerate and actually enjoy freezing temperatures that would terrify most people. I am also starting to see my body in a wider context – we don’t look at a tree or mountain and judge its appearance. It simply exists and does what it needs to. And so does my body.”

I am also starting to see my body in a wider context – we don’t look at a tree or mountain and judge its appearance. It simply exists and does what it needs to. And so does my body

Gabriella Williams

Something really heartening that has come through from talking to women who have daughters, is their clarity about not passing their lack of body acceptance onto their daughters. Gabby’s own words were: “Having a daughter has really made me aware of the importance of body positivity. I want her to go through life with confidence, and be at peace with herself. This in turn has made me reevaluate my attitude to my own body. For example, I never mention weight around her. I emphasise the need to be strong and healthy, rather than thin and beautiful. Bodies are diverse, none are better or worse.”

This swimming costume design is (unsurprisingly) called “Jellyfish”! And is available here in my shop: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/jellyfish-womens-one…/

Frankie Bielby 

There aren’t many women who would be up for wearing a swimming costume in a public park in the middle of the day, in the pouring rain in Great Britain whilst heavily pregnant, to do a very random photoshoot, but Frankie Bielby is an exception! This shoot was so much fun! That was one of the main things I took away from it and I think that comes across in the piccies. I realised something from this particular shoot, and that was that my job as a photographer isn’t just to suggest how the person hold their body and pose in the most flattering way, it’s also to help them relax because it’s at that point that their inner beauty shines through, and it’s the inner beauty that I think really touches people. Also, I’ve known Frankie literally my entire life, so there was an element of both of us being relaxed during this shoot and being quite silly!

In our interview Frankie said she has never had a healthy relationship with her body, even in her teens, hating certain parts of it and having a lot of self-criticism about it and comparison always being there. When she developed stretch marks during this pregnancy it really negatively affected her. Still now she feels like she is flawed and can’t accept herself, however, she can see that this is “ridiculous”. She always makes sure, however, that she is very positive about her body around her 5-yr old daughter as she doesn’t want her to “have the same issues and lack of confidence that most women have. One of the things I do is to talk in a calm and objective way about my body to my daughter and about how all bodies are different and no one is better nor worse.”

One of the things I do is to talk in a calm and objective way about my body to my daughter and about how all bodies are different, and no one is better or worse.”

Frankie feels (as do I) that the media’s unhealthy attitudes towards women’s bodies are so ingrained that it’s extremely difficult to undo the damage and conditioning. Compliments also don’t really help (I’m the same with compliments, they just kind of bounce off me). Frankie has generally not felt particularly confident about her body throughout her life (apart from on some occasions), but never in swimwear, and she says it is particularly difficult at the moment whilst being so uncomfortable with being heavily pregnant. Frankie would like to feel different and wants to start doing some positive affirmations to change her thoughts.

I asked her beforehand how she felt about doing the shoot and she said she was both excited and nervous, but she also wanted to document the pregnancy and have a record of it as she didn’t with her previous pregnancy. When I asked how she felt after the shoot, Frankie said she felt tense and uncomfortable at first but once the pouring rain started (!!!) and things became hilarious she found it “freeing, amusing, exciting and edgy.” She also said she loves the fact that she now has a record of her body as it really is now, and although her body is totally different from how it was pre-pregnancy, and to how it is in her head, the photos are something Frankie will “really treasure from this fleeting moment in [her] life”.

This swimming costume is called “Machair” and the painting was done in South Uist in Scotland two years ago (so many things were inspired by South Uist!). It’s here in my shop: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/machair-womens-one…/

Emma Ush

Meet Emma Ush, mum of 6! Yes, 6! The vibrant golden lady modeling my “Yellow Shock” swimming costume. 

We waded around the edge of a rather wet and boggy field to do this shoot and got our feet and trousers absolutely drenched and my trousers all torn before even starting! It was a lot of fun though!

On wild swimming: Emma’s quite new to wild swimming but says that it has really boosted her confidence and wellbeing, especially because she injured her knee recently so wasn’t able to do much other physical activity. She’s found wild swimming to be empowering and relaxing. On participating in the shoot: It was a spur of the moment decision – “yeah, why not”! She’s currently feeling really confident and good, so felt like just going for it. Emma started running recently and feels really good for it. In the past, she says she’s been smaller but has actually never felt as confident as she feels now. In general, she feels pretty good about herself and likes her body. She says having the photos taken in swimwear felt fine. Felt she might feel critical of the pics when she saw them afterward and found it slightly weird posing in a field (!) but didn’t feel too shy about it. Is dying to do it again actually! And is grateful for the experience.“

Yellow Shock: is available in my shop here: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/yellow-shock-womens…/

Laura Davies

Here is the elven Laura Davies modeling my “Purple Encounter” swimming cossie in a secret hidden paradise location! We had such a good talk before the shoot about bodies and our relationships with them. I’ve tried to summarise but there was so much gold in what Laura said I wanted to fit as much in as possible.

Laura has been swimming outdoors for years but only started doing it regularly and all year round about a year and a half ago. Laura feels like she can just get in and put no pressure on herself (unlike running which she can get quite hung up on timing herself etc). She says that “any stress just washes away” in the water. The feeling of floating and enjoying the stunning surroundings of where we live creates a massive improvement to her wellbeing. Laura feels there is also a sense of camaraderie about wild swimming, with women coming together and no one caring about what one another looks like (wild swimming seems to often attracts more women than men).

Laura says she was always a bit body conscious, so swimming was a bit hindered when she was younger but since starting to swim outdoors regularly now, she feels much less body conscious and also feels like really celebrating her body because it manages to swim in extreme conditions (like in February when it is freezing). She feels that “the colder the water the better as it gives a much greater sense of exhilaration”. It is also more fun and loves swimming in stormy weather.

I asked why she was interested in participating in the photoshoots and she said she loves my costumes and artwork, and also loves the idea of wearing art, and sees it as similar to her tattoos on her body. She also feels like it is a move in the right direction with regards to body positivity and putting a product out there with “normal” women modeling it and not just airbrushed models. Laura said she feels that one of the reasons women get paranoid about cellulite etc is because they/we are never exposed to it. She catches herself regularly beating herself up, yet she has run two marathons and swims regularly and is strong and fit. She wants young women to grow up in a world where all shapes and sizes are normalized.

“I’m a nice person and a good person I am not going to say those nasty things about myself. It is about time I respected myself more. That’s a message that all women should have in mind. Respect is a massive part of it.”

She talked about her sister’s artwork, and how she draws beautiful portraits but with something slightly distorted in them, like someone’s head being pulled away/dissolving. The meaning behind the drawings is to do with showing the impact that negative comments can have on someone’s being. Laura and I reminisced about reading magazines when we were teenagers and seeing things such as celebrities being photographed unawares on beaches and their “flaws” (like cellulite etc) being circled!!! I remember seeing that stuff all too well. What kind of a message is that sending out?! It trickles into our heads as teenagers and leaves young impressionable minds feeling like “it’s really bad that I’ve got this (cellulite/extra fat/wrongly-shaped body) as well”.

Generally, on a day-to-day basis Laura doesn’t feel hugely confident about her body, often picking holes in her appearance but then she gets cross with herself. She spent her teens and 20s yo-yo dieting but in her 30s refuses to do this anymore and is becoming more aware of the things she says to herself. “When I am in the middle of a swim or out running, I lose those inhibitions. I hope one day I will get to a point where I am like, f**k it, I don’t care, but I don’t know if that will ever happen. I’m not actively miserable though.”

Laura talked about if she wears fun bright clothes, it uplifts her spirits, but if she puts something on in order to hide a body part it’s like she is giving in to those unpleasant thoughts and doesn’t feel so good. We talked about how fashion trends affect what we women do to their faces and bodies and how people getting botox now might find two years down the line that it’s gone out of fashion, but the effects might be permanent. Also, things like bum implants weren’t the fashion in the 90s and they probably won’t be in the future! It makes me wonder, if cellulite became fashionable, how incredibly fabulous and liberating that would be!!!!!

Laura said it makes her sad when people hold themselves back because of these negative thoughts. When she sees a friend struggling with these hangups, Laura somehow often manages to detach from her own stuff and do the thing that is inhibiting her friend in order to help the friend move through whatever the fear is. Laura feels lucky that she is able to detach from these negative thoughts enough for it not to control her decisions. Laura would like to feel less bothered and stop being horrible to herself, as the only person who is suffering really, is herself. She wants to be a nice person, but wonders “why am I not nice to myself then?” She would like to be in a position where she says “I’m a nice person and a good person I am not going to say those nasty things about myself. It is about time I respected myself more. That’s a message that all women should have in mind. Respect is a massive part of it.” I couldn’t agree more.

With regards to the shoot, Laura felt like she would be able to put the self-consciousness part in a box and was looking forward to just being creative. When I asked her afterward how it was for her she said she found it really fun – especially playing with the water. “The camera became irrelevant and just playing in a new spot was really liberating. It was nice to just mess around and have fun and I really enjoyed it.”

Purple Encounter is available in my shop here: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/purple-encounter…/

Natalie Chivers

Introducing Natalie Chivers, queen of the plants(!), modeling my “Wild Flowers” swimming costume in Llyn Padarn (Padarn has become my photography studio!

Natalie has found wild swimming to really help her to relax. In January she had a lot of stress with her job so she swam every day in the coldest water she could find and found it really helped her to detach from all the instability and uncertainty she was dealing with at work. She says that the water feels like an extension of her body and it has been an exciting process making wild swimming part of her daily life.

With regards to her relationship with her body, Natalie says that it’s complicated and constantly fluctuating. She often has a lot of negative self-talk going on in the background, however, it has never stopped her from doing what she’s wanted to do. She’s always felt like there is “a shape or size or a weight [she is] supposed to be” but can never be clear about what exactly that is.

Natalie’s job (gardening and botanical garden management) requires her to be fit and strong – and she is – but she feels that she sometimes doesn’t give her body credit for all the amazing things it does, instead of criticising it and is mean to herself in ways that she wouldn’t accept off anyone else. Natalie finds the continuous striving to be a certain size really tiring and really she would like to just enjoy life as she is now. In other areas of her life she just goes out and does things and conquers things, but with regards to her body self-talk, it never really changes (I can massively relate to this), it’s like it’s never possible to get beyond the thoughts.

She sometimes looks back to some years ago when she was slimmer and thinks “that’s where I want to be”, but when she really thinks about it, she remembers being quite unwell and not feeling very good at all when she was that size. She felt like she looked great, but she felt terrible and was in a lot of pain. Sometimes thinks that it would be worth the pain to look that way, then realises that that is crazy. I asked Natalie what it was like to admit these things out loud, and she said it felt strange but also quite liberating.

I asked afterward what her experience of the photoshoot had been and she said she found it amazing and really liberating and it wasn’t at all how she expected it to be. She got really used to it after a while and totally immersed herself in just showing the costume off and stopped worrying about how she looked. She also really enjoyed spending time underwater with her eyes open, just looking around at the sunlight and the flowers. We brought loads of wildflowers with us and played around in the water with them.

Wild Flowers costume is available here in my shop: https://katherinebetteridge.com/product/wild-flowers-one-piece-swimsuit/ 

Carole Louise Richardson

Meet Carole Louise Richardson aka, the jelly whisperer () modeling my “A Bloom of Jellyfish” swimming costume and swimming with the freshwater jellyfish of Padarn! 

Up until 2016, Carole was a keen runner and also did a lot of karate but in 2016 she was diagnosed with osteoporosis and told by her doctor that it would be best to stop doing high-impact sports. She found it very difficult to let go of them but soon discovered swimming and began swimming once or twice a week in the sea. Carole says she has really been looking after herself physically and mentally, which means she has been able to start running again. Swimming has helped make her stronger and compliments the running. She feels that the water creates a real sense of freedom and really supports her.

Sometimes you just have to say to yourself, ‘Nope, that’s how I am’.

Carole

I asked what had drawn her to participating in the photoshoots and she said she saw Sioned and my posters for Returning last year in Pontio and really liked the look of the photos and it stuck in her mind. Then when I put the callout on Fb for models for my shop and she saw that there was a jellyfish swimming costume, she decided it was a calling! An ironic one as she is always getting stung by jellyfish!

Carole was at the height of being fit and slim when she got the osteoporosis diagnosis and found that very difficult. Her weight has fluctuated over the years but she has reached a point now where she accepts how she is and has a good balance of activities. “I am what I am and I don’t think I could be any healthier, and life is too short not to eat chocolate!” I fully agree.  Carole feels like she would feel more comfortable if she was a certain weight but she feels like striving for that all the time is a lot of pressure, “and sometimes you just have to say to yourself, ‘Nope, that’s how I am. The older you get it’s easier to accept.”

Carole found the photoshoot in the water liberating. “It’s like a pair of hands looking after you and holding you.”

A Bloom of Jellyfish is available here in my shop:https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/a-bloom-of-jellyfish…/

Anna Tasmin Story

Meet Anna Tasmin Story modeling my “Turquoise and Yellow Disarray Bikini“. I feel Anna’s relationship with her body is so wholesome and healthy and I hope I absorbed some of her energy during our shoot!!

On wild swimming: Anna feels that wild swimming for her is about engaging with nature and playfulness. “The sensation of the water and the cold gets my full attention, then the natural environment around me feels connected to me, so much more than it would if I were standing on the bank; I get captivated by patterns in the water. I love swimming in heavy rain and seeing the droplets splash at eye level. In the summer, when the sun shines brightly through the water I look down and play with the dancing light which moves as my hands push the water. In a wild environment with only my friends around, I feel I can be totally myself. I am uninhibited and that tends to make me playful. I like jumping into the water, diving down to look for fish, or wandering around the bank getting lost in small wonders. I don’t get why adults are expected to lay down playfulness, my wild swimming friends have also held on to that sense of fun.”

“Coldwater boosts my mood and energy levels. Mentally, I shake off whatever has been bothering me, and while I am swimming I just am. If I am feeling numb it brings me back. After a cold water swim, the world almost always seems brighter. Wild swimming has given me a reason to take time for myself. My Sunday morning dips are times when I can catch up with friends and have a break from being a mum. That has kept me sane in tough times.”

Wild Swimming has given me a reason to take time for myself. My Sunday morning dips are times when I can catch up with friends and have a break from being amum. That has kept me sane in tough times.”

“I love nature photography and have really enjoyed seeing Katherine’s recent work so I wanted to see her creations. I feel comfortable with Katherine so hope I can be my full self in front of her lens, capturing that in photos would be precious.”

Do you feel confident when it comes to your body? “Yes, I’ve always felt happy in my own skin and accepting of my body. When it was able to grow, birth, and feed my children I loved it more. I like my chicken pockmarks and stretch mark ‘flames’, they tell stories. That confidence means I feel out of place when women are bonding over their shared insecurities, those women look beautiful to me.”

What would you say your relationship with your body and appearance is like? “Pretty good. My body does all I need it to do, I’d like to be more supple but know I could work on that if I wanted to. My appearance doesn’t really interest me, beyond staying clean and brushing my hair so my expectations are easy to meet.” Would you like to feel any different? “No, I hope I still accept my body as I get older and develop more health issues. So far my wrinkles and first grey hairs have fascinated me rather than upset me.”

Turquoise and Yellow Disarray” Bikini is available in my shop here:https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/turquoise-and-yellow…/

Robyn Joy Marjot

Meet Robyn Joy Marjot, graceful and elegant water creature of the Snowdonia mountain lakes modeling my “Galaxy” swimming costume. This lake was a 45-minute hike up a hill in the hot sun, with me struggling along behind Robyn, sweating and panting, barely able to match her extremely fast pace! I picked a lesser-known lake in an attempt to avoid annoying people with my drone! There was one other person there – who rather randomly was Pete, as in, Pete’s Eats Pete! (I asked him if he minded me flying the drone and he said he didn’t and thanked me for asking). I had ideas in mind that I really wanted to achieve with the drone – shown in the video above. 

When she first started wild swimming, Robyn felt like it was dangerous as she’d heard lots of horror stories about it. She initially got into it just from being hot when hill walking and needing to cool down. She soon realised though that being submerged helped her stop worrying about how she looked, or about life’s stresses in general. She feels it creates a safe space and helps her feel connected to nature, encouraging her to feel grounded. “All the stresses of life wash away.”

People should be able to feel like someone has made the clothes for them rather than feeling like they’ve got to fit into something or change themselves and be a certain size”

I asked Robyn a while back if she would like to participate in the shoot as I thought she’d be open to it. When I asked why she had said yes, Robyn said it was because when she buys clothes she can’t find women who look like her modeling the clothes, and when she does it’s in a plus size capacity, which makes her feel rubbish about herself as she feels like she’s just normal. She wants to give other women the opportunity to see models who look like them so they know how something will really look and also so they will see someone who is more real. “People should be able to feel like someone has made the clothes for them rather than feeling like they’ve got to fit into something or change themselves and be a certain size.” Robyn also feels like she doesn’t need to hide her body anymore these days and has gone through a process of acceptance. She also said “Someone actually wants to take pictures of me, for their artwork. That’s amazing.” 

Her relationship with her body and appearance differs a lot from day to day. Sometimes she feels really fabulous, sometimes she feels not so good. Social media hasn’t helped. When she’s with friends or in good company she feels fine, but social media makes her compare herself in a negative way but she said “A good body is a body that looks after you and keeps you alive and breathing.” She wishes that we didn’t compare ourselves and she wishes she consistently felt confident. Robyn said the photoshoot (and video shoot) was out of her comfort zone, but found it liberating and fun and is keen to do another! “

Galaxy” is available here in my shop: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/galaxy-womens-one…/

There is also a video from this shoot:

 

Vicki Sutcliffe

Meet the graceful Vicki Sutcliffe modeling my “Shooting Star” design.

Vicki grew up between Africa and Aberdovey with swimming always being a big part of her life. She feels like swimming is a reboot switch if she’s not feeling so good. Vicki has Raynaud’s but still loves getting into the lake in January, which she feels shows that there are worthy benefits to wild swimming.

She used to swim a lot with a swim group pre covid and felt that it didn’t matter what she was wearing or how she was feeling – they all just got in and she felt that that group helped her feel less body aware. However, she has experienced being around other people who have made comments about other people’s weight or they have been judgemental about other people’s appearances and that has, in turn, made Vicki feel more self-conscious, wondering if she too is being judged. Vicki feels that people could do with being more aware of the comments they make about others and realise that those comments can impact other people indirectly.

Vicki initially was drawn to participating in the shoots because she really liked my designs, but also was interested because I had said on the swimming group FB page that I wanted ‘real women’. Vicki feels that it would be great for people to be able to look at clothes and to know what they will really look like because they are being modeled by real people. I asked her about the costume fit because she is tall and she said it’s good, and the adjustable straps are very useful!

At the moment Vicki feels a bit uncomfortable with her body because she’s put on weight over lockdown. She used to swim more and was slimmer and felt better however she realises more and more that she is starting to care less as she gets older. She is less focused on body shape nowadays and more focused on fitness and health. Vicki has two children and she wants to be a good example – she wants her kids to remember her for being fun and for being around. In her family, they focus on fitness, not body shape. Rather than saying “don’t eat that, you’ll put on weight”, she’d rather say “we need to go and get out and do some exercise today.”

Vicki would like to feel a bit different emotionally – she’d like to be more at ease with the way she looks – she is self-conscious but doesn’t think she should be. She realises as she gets older that it doesn’t matter and would rather spend time with her family as that’s the priority now.

Shooting Star is available in my shop here: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/shooting-star-womens…/

Marie and Alice Hodgson-Scott

 

 

 

Meet Marie Hodgson-Scott modeling my “Invigorate” swimming costume, and her daughter Alice, modeling “Solar Activity”. These ladies were so comfortable in the water. I wish that it had been less murky so I could have got clearer underwater shots. I had the opportunity with Alice to find out the views and feelings of a member of the younger female generation and it was amazingly positive! Alice loves wild swimming. “When I step in the water I just feel really good.” She also says it gets better and better the more she does it. On confidence – I asked “do you feel like you are confident with your body” and Alice’s reply was “YES. VERY CONFIDENT!!” (I loved this response!). I said, “I think you’re my role model and you will be lots of women’s role models”. She also said “I feel that I am getting taller though, and I don’t like it because when I am small I can fit through little tiny holes and caves and things but I can’t fit through if I am getting bigger.”

I asked “do you feel like you are confident with your body” and Alice’s reply was “YES. VERY CONFIDENT!!”

Alice

When I started taking photos I started with Alice, who was radiating positive, confident energy which seemed to filter through to all of us, so this shoot was a lot of fun. 

My interview with Marie: On wild swimming: for Marie swimming every day is a necessity. She asked Alice what happened if she (Marie) doesn’t wild swim, and Alice said Marie goes a bit “bananas and kooky”! Marie said it helps her calm down and regulate. “For me when I get in the water it is a bit like a meditation. It feels like it washes away anything I can’t deal with. I come out with a smile on my face and feel stronger. I can’t not go swimming. We make it a non-negotiable in our family – we go swimming every day. That’s what we do.” She then said that if she hasn’t been for a swim her kids can tell and her little boy will say “shall we take mummy for a swim”!!! “Swimming is very powerful and we have a lot of respect for the water.”

For me when I get in the water it is a bit like a meditation. It feels like it washes away anything I can’t deal with. I come out with a smile on my face and feel stronger. I can’t not go swimming. “

Marie

Marie discovered wild swimming when her mental health was very unstable and she was feeling suicidal. The water helped her to calm herself and she noticed that it made the overwhelm lessen. Some years ago she found out she was autistic and she did a course in DBT. In the course, it was suggested that she put cold water on her skin to help her self-regulate, and she was amazed because that was what she had been doing instinctively anyway. The kids copy and go swimming too. Alice is very confident in the water and Marie explained that the water helps Alice to self-regulate herself too (Alice is also autistic) and it tends to stop her from reaching the point of a meltdown, which I find fantastic and so healthy – that a little girl has found a way of helping herself emotionally whilst she is still so young.

Marie was attracted to participating in the photoshoot with Alice and loved the idea of and mum and daughter shoot and also loves what I am doing. She loves the idea of Alice seeing women of all different shapes and sizes and it being normalised. She said she also felt safe enough with me to do this. On confidence, Marie said: “I don’t let my body stop me from doing things I want to do” apart from if it literally stops Marie – if her knees hurt or she can’t keep up with the kids, etc. “I don’t think I am confident with my body, or happy with it, but I make a very conscious effort to carry on getting on with it. I am trying to work towards making my body stronger.”

For Marie, she feels she can’t wear what she wants to wear because things don’t fit right and that affects her confidence, however, she has always just tried really hard to not let that lack of confidence stop her from doing something. She doesn’t want to be the mum that isn’t in photos or who avoids activities and she hopes this helps normalise different women’s shapes and sizes. “I also don’t talk about my body in front of the kids, or about parts of my body that I’m not happy with because I don’t think that’s healthy and it’s a different way we were brought up when we were younger.”

Marie feels like she has accepted herself and her size after becoming a mum of two.“I am grateful for my body and for what it can do. I am grateful I can bike and I can swim and I can do all these things. And I do think it’s up to me if I am unhappy with the way my body is I need to either accept it or change it myself.”

Invigorate is available in my shop here: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/invigorate-one-piece…/And Solar Activity is available here: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/solar-activity-one…/

Viv Ervine

Meet Viv Ervine modeling my “Wormhole” design. This shoot was inspired by the painting ‘Ophelia’ by Sir John Everett Millais and has nothing to do with outer space! Thank you so much Viv for being willing to lie in slimy reeds for me!!!

On wild swimming “I really love outdoor swimming. I always have. We used to come to North Wales on holiday and I’d always swim in the sea or in the river. It definitely has a good effect on how I feel about my body because it’s one of those things that a lot of people react negatively against (the cold) and it makes me feel really good doing something that a lot of people wouldn’t do. It feels good that my body can do it and that I can rely on my body. That feeling of enjoyment that is in your body as well as just your mind. It also has a positive effect on my mental health. If I have a stressful time I always want to go for a swim – all the emotionality settles down. Another reason I love wild swimming is the nature connection – being in the water and feeling like I am part of the landscape and part of wildlife gives me a lot.”

On why Viv was drawn to participating in the shoots: whenever she’s seen people having a photoshoot out in nature, she has always thought it looked lovely but if I hadn’t put the offer there she felt that she wouldn’t have arranged a photoshoot for herself. “I had looked at your swimsuits and could see the photos of the model produced by the company, and could see why some photos of real people would be really great for your swimsuits. Also, it is pushing myself a bit outside of my comfort zone as I wouldn’t normally be having my photo taken in my swimsuit, but also it is nice to do things that I wouldn’t normally do.”

On confidence “I am lacking some confidence in what my body can do. I have never felt that confident physically with sports or anything like that, but I think I am getting more confident as I get older and more appreciative of what my body can do. When I was younger I didn’t feel particularly confident in the way my body appeared, but now when I look back at photos of my younger self I really feel like ‘oh, why did you feel like that at the time because you looked amazing’. If I’d been able to have those eyes looking at myself at the time, I think that would have been a great thing for myself.

I really enjoy the change that has happened where I am much less conscious of other people’s opinions. I would like that to carry on increasing. It is definitely a good feeling to just do what you want with your body, and wear what you want and have it the way you want it.”

Nowadays I feel less critical about the way I look and I place less importance on it. I choose clothes because I like them rather than picking things because I think that is what other people think I should wear and that gives me confidence. Also, something I’ve worked with a lot over my life is body hair – I never liked the feeling of removing body hair when I was younger and I always really disliked the feeling of it growing back, and over time I stopped removing it, and I now really like my body hair. I like the way it feels and I am really happy with it. Having that kind of relationship and enjoying that part of my body has a positive effect generally on how I feel about my body. There is part of me that still thinks that other people might not be happy with it but I feel that that is less important to me now than when I was younger. Your priorities change over time.

I really enjoy the change that has happened where I am much less conscious of other people’s opinions. I would like that to carry on increasing. It is definitely a good feeling to just do what you want with your body, and wear what you want and have it the way you want it. I would like to have more trust in what my body can do physically, and I would like to continue strengthening my body so I can feel that trust there.”

Wormhole is available in my shop here: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/womens-one-piece…/

Vikki Williams

Meet Vikki Williams, modeling my “Jellyfish” swimming costume.

Vikki started swimming regularly in January this year. She spoke about the water making her feel refreshed and revitalised and “nothing aching, nothing hurting. Once I’m in I really enjoy it. It does wonders for my mental health. I try to swim every day.”

I have been asking all the ladies what drew them to participate in the shoot and Vikki’s answer was that she often finds herself wondering how clothes will look on her because the pictures of skinny models online give no real indication of what something will look like in real life on a normal body. “I don’t feel comfortable doing the shoot but when I saw the post I just thought, yes. I want to humanise things, show that this is a normal person’s body. Show someone who’s not stick-thin and filtered. I’ve got nieces, and everything is filtered these days. All the photos they put on Instagram etc have had a filter put on them and everything looks so glamorous but it’s not real life.”

Vikki doesn’t feel confident when it comes to her body. “I don’t have a very good relationship with my body. I don’t look in the mirror. Even when I’m in the hairdressers I don’t look at myself.” She does, however, feel proud of her body because “it is what it is and it’s mine but I don’t like the way I look. Sometimes I think ‘I don’t need to lose weight, that’s you, just deal with it’ but when I look at magazines I compare myself to everybody else, which you shouldn’t because you’re not everybody else, you are you. Things like cellulite have been ridiculed by the media. When we see celebrities on the screens, they’re all perfect, but then when we see them in a magazine they get ridiculed if they have a bit of cellulite or a wrinkle or something.”

Sometimes I do feel confident, like the other day I was at Padarn and I walked past a load of people in only my swimming costume and I felt ok. I just thought ‘this is a proper person’. It felt liberating.”

Vikki said she would like to be less self-critical and feel more confident. “Sometimes I do feel confident, like the other day I was in Padarn and I walked past a load of people in only my swimming costume and I felt ok. I just thought ‘this is a proper person.’ It felt quite liberating to do that and I did feel quite confident. I felt quite proud of myself.” Vikki felt nervous about the shoot beforehand but actually enjoyed it after all. She felt a bit self-conscious but only because she had never done anything like this before “not in a horrible way. Just because it’s new and outside my comfort zone.”

Jellyfish is available here in my shop: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/jellyfish-womens-one…/

Em Ush

Em Ush, is back modeling my “Gerbera” design bikini. I am totally impressed by this lady every time I meet her and learn more about her. She has the most amazing capacity for overcoming things in life and emerging stronger and more vibrant than ever and making things that seem impossible happen. I didn’t interview her a second time, but the original interview is with my ‘Yellow Shock’ swimming costume below. We did a fun 6:30am shoot on a lush golden morning.

Gerbera bikini can be found here in my shop: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/gerbera-womens…/

Claudia

It’s amazing how tropical North Wales sometimes looks, isn’t it?  … Meet Claudia the crocodile whisperer, modeling my “Invigorate” design bikini. Claudia lives in Australia. Her friend Julia Salt took the piccies. Thank you Julia very much! These are great. Claudia said: “These photos were taken by a friend who I met when trying to swim across a pool of dark and very cold water. She – like me – was hesitant because there were freshwater crocodiles in the pool. Those crocs are usually shy and don’t attack humans but can do so when they feel threatened. After opening up about our fears and assessing the situation we both felt strong enough to jump in. So we did. It was a wonderful swim in the end which resulted in a beautiful friendship. This photo shoot was a very bonding experience for both of us and we enjoyed it very much.”

Claudia says she loves being in natural waters of any kind. “I think it’s very healing. The way I can shut out the noise of life and the noise in my head when I’m underwater making me feel free. All I can hear is the sound the bubbles make and little clicks coming from the sediment. And when I come back to the surface, I feel washed, cleaned from any negativity that might have been there, and ready to face what’s ahead of me. There aren’t many places in the tropical north of Australia where you can safely swim without the risk of getting eaten by a saltwater crocodile. So if you find such a place you’ll cherish it and that’s what makes your swim even more special.”

For me, there’s nothing more beautiful than a woman being unapologetically herself, comfortable in her perfect imperfections, because of the meaningful stories that are told by the way her body is shaped and by each transitioning line on her face.”

Q-What attracted you to participate in the photoshoot? “The idea of photographing women in their natural beauty is something I strongly support and so I wanted to try it for myself. For me, there’s nothing more beautiful than a woman being unapologetically herself, comfortable in her perfect imperfections, because of the meaningful stories that are told by the way her body is shaped and by each transitioning line on her face.”

Q-Do you feel confident when it comes to your body? “I generally feel confident in my own skin. There are bad-hair days, of course, but I think everybody has them. I love my body. I love the fact that I can push it to its limits – and I try to do so quite often – and it will bounce back stronger. I love testing my physical and mental boundaries by climbing 15 (no, 16!) peaks in 24 hours (this was something Claudia and I did together about 10 years ago when she lived in Wales!) or by rafting down a river for 10 days or by jumping off a 12 m high cliff. When my body is strong my mind is strong and when my mind is strong I feel like I can handle everything better that life throws at me.”

Would you like to feel any different emotionally (about your relationship)? “No.”

Invigorate bikini is available in my shop here: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/invigorate-womens…/

Fiona Nesfield

Meet the next lovely lady – Fiona Nesfield, modeling my “Solar Activity” bikini. Fiona loves wild swimming, she said it’s something she’s always done. Since having a baby she’s found swimming really helpful with coping with the exhaustion and the huge life change of becoming a mother. Fiona said that swimming helps her to feel like herself and it’s also how she manages to make a bit of time for herself. Fiona also explained that she had a nasty bike accident a few years ago and swimming helped her a lot in the recovery of that.

Fiona was drawn to participating in the shoot because she loved the idea of local normal women modeling swimwear and she also liked my art.  On her relationship with her body – she feels pretty confident about it and has generally had a positive relationship with it. She has always focused on what her body can do rather than on how it looks. She feels particularly positive about the amazing things her body has managed to do with regards to having a baby and how it has come through everything. Fiona felt after the shoot that she hadn’t realised how much more comfortable she would be being photographed underwater than above.

Solar Activity is available here in my shop: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/solar-activity…/

Poppy Ashby

Halloween is my favorite celebration by far! So I thought it’d be great to do a Halloween-themed photoshoot. Here is the lovely Poppy Ashby being pulled down into the depths by dark mermaids!I did this shoot a few weeks ago with Poppy modeling my “Turquoise and Yellow Disarray” design. There was a really dark feel to the day – it was wild, windy and wintery and Poppy’s blue hair and the dead tree she was standing next to inspired my inner goth to come out and we decided on a darker-themed shoot and thought I would save it for Halloween. Once we got in the water, Poppy was wonderfully obliging with me asking her to keep re-sinking and posing underwater. There was a howling gale blowing above us and pouring rain!

Swimming has been a part of Poppy’s life since she was a baby, but wild swimming has been a recent thing of maybe 7 or 8 years. It always helps her general mental health. She said she wanted to participate in my project because she loved the artwork and the creativity behind all the different shoots.

I wanted to also say to everyone to embrace your body. Plus size is beautiful, average is beautiful, skinny is beautiful stretch marks are beautiful, beauty spots and freckles are beautiful. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.”

On body confidence: Poppy said she didn’t use to be confident, but she allows herself to feel confident and to love herself nowadays. “I see new curves and stretch marks and cellulite and think “more tiger stripes! Gorgeous. I feel like my relationship with my body and appearance gets better every day but ONLY IF I ACCEPT IT. If I try to fight my weight gain or cellulite my insecurities take over then it gets harder to love myself.”

On her experience of the shoot: “IT WAS SO COLD BUT SO FUN AND WOULD DO IT AGAIN FOR FUN”! Poppy also said: “I wanted to also say to everyone to embrace your body. Plus size is beautiful, average is beautiful, skinny is beautiful stretch marks are beautiful, beauty spots and freckles are beautiful. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL.”

The costume is available here in my shop: https://katherinebetteridge.com/…/turquoise-and-yellow…/

Katherine Betteridge (me!)

I’ve been swimming for, well, my entire life really, but up until about 10 years ago I would have only swum over summer, however since that point I’ve continued to swim all year. Swimming for me is to do with connecting with nature and is like meditation. I usually do it alone as I love to take the opportunity to really tune into myself, and feel the sensations within me (immersing myself in freezing cold water makes it pretty difficult to ignore my body!!).

I also feel extremely connected to nature when swimming alone and have had several extremely memorable experiences of swimming in the mountains. One of these was during a massive intense storm when I was alone in the dark one November night in Llyn Llydaw. There were huge build-ups of energy whipping across the water and the wind completely battering me and the lake as it whipped across us! Another occasion was early one very calm and freezing winter morning, when snow was falling in Llyn Idwal and the snowy mountains seemed to be looking down on me, welcoming me. Both those occasions left a really lasting profound impression on me, and made me feel like I was part of something immense and beautiful and much greater than myself. I felt very welcome in that wonderful, magical raw world. I can still feel the exhilaration in my body now, several years on. Any experience of connecting to nature in this intense way makes me feel very alive and very fulfilled.

My relationship with my body is not great to be honest, as I elaborate upon in this blog post, but I am working on it through doing these interviews and photoshoots with women, discussing in a grounded way all the dark stuff we women often feel about ourselves and bringing it out into the light. It is helping me heal and I hope it is helping women collectively too.

My boyfriend took this amazing photo. I was playing in one of our favourite secret waterfalls, chanelling Anita Ekberg in La Dolce Vita! The playfulness made me forget my inhibitions and I think that comes across in the picture. I think this is what makes a good photo – someone letting go. After taking lots of photos of women now, I know the best photos were when the woman was able to put her self-consciousness aside temporarily and just have fun.