After losing her beloved father in a car accident in 1998, grief wasn’t the only emotion underwater photographer Erena Shimoda had to grapple with. Guilt also overwhelmed her. Shimoda, then 22, was a passenger in the van her father had been driving on their family road trip. She suffered life-threatening injuries from the crash, including a traumatic brain injury, and spent weeks in intensive care.
Heavily sedated, Shimoda had no memory of the accident at first. As she became more clear-headed, well-meaning friends and relatives ventured a theory that she’d survived the crash because of her father. He had protected her in the manner of a guardian angel, they insisted, sacrificing his life for hers. That story weighed heavy on her heart.
“It was a miracle I survived,” admitted Shimoda, who moved to the Bay Area with her family from Tokyo as a child and now lives in San Francisco. “But I was not happy my father had to let go so I could stay. I was mad at myself—I had a lot of survivor guilt.”
Her father had always helped those in need, including providing support for the nonprofit Children International. To honor him—and help ease her anguish—Shimoda was determined do the same and began donating to Children International within a year of his death.
As an adult, a passion for the ocean and scuba diving help Shimoda stay afloat. “It helped me with my depression,” she says. “I was on so many medications—swimming and scuba diving are my alternative therapies.”
Wanting to capture the beauty of the underwater world she loves, she started taking photos with disposable cameras during her dives and invested in a professional underwater camera in 2005.
She snapped pictures of marine life during diving trips to Cancun, Corsica, Cozumel, Hawaii, and Thailand. In 2008, she took an underwater photography workshop and soon after, started a side hustle taking stunning underwater portraits of pregnant women, engaged couples, fashion models, and others.
In 2012, Shimoda began to take underwater portraits for Look Good Feel Better, an American Cancer Society program that provides cancer survivors with free services, such as makeup, hair styling, wigs and clothing tips, to help them feel good about their post-recovery appearance. Shimoda related to the struggles of her subjects because of the accident that stole her father and left her with bouts of depression.
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Friends and other early recruits loved the experience and magical images Shimoda captured. And so, Underwater Transformation Project was born, powered by Shimoda’s funds as well as an Indigogo campaign.
Over the years, the project evolved to include people with disabilities and those who’ve dealt with PTSD, domestic violence, and other trauma. Shimoda prefers calling them “thrivers” instead of “survivors,” and says many of her subjects don’t want to dwell on what they’ve been through—they want to focus on living.
“I think underwater portrait photography can be life-changing,” she told 48 Hills. “It’s not going to cure PTSD or cancer, but it is an alternative therapy.”
Her subjects agree on the healing power of the water. On Shimoda’s website, Ericka Hart, Black and queer activist Ericka Hart, who had a double mastectomy, shared that she felt “beautiful and free in the underwater world.”
Army veteran Jared Lemon, who sports a mohawk in his photos, lost his right arm serving in Afghanistan. He also has PTSD, a traumatic brain injury, and painful scars from shrapnel. “Water is therapeutic,” he said. “Water is my equalizer and I love it.”
Both praised Shimoda for being easy to work with. Though her photos have a dreamy, serene vibe, Shimoda notes that folks often struggle early in a shoot, which typically lasts about two hours, including set-up time.
“Being underwater takes time to get used to,” she explained. “I don’t want people to get discouraged, so I always tell them that the first five or 10 minutes, sometimes longer, you struggle. The last 10 minutes are when the best shots happen.”
Though she’s traveled to other states and countries for thriver shoots, these days, she sticks to local swimming pools. She uses the app Swimply to rent them.
Shimoda recently achieved a major milestone: completing her hundredth thriver portrait. And last year, after more than a decade of scrambling to raise money for her project while holding down a full-time job, she was ecstatic to receive a Getty Images/Verizon grant for $7,000. She was one of three photographers recognized for highlighting the diversity, beauty, and strength of the disability community.
“The grant was the jolt I needed to know people are still interested in my work,” said the photographer, who is currently seeking galleries and venues interested in exhibiting her Underwater Transformation Project. “I wasn’t sure if I could continue with my project; I was donating my own money and losing some inspiration. So now I want to keep going until I’m 100—I want to be the oldest person to photograph underwater.”
2024 was also the year Shimoda found herself in front of a camera for a change. Filmmaker Ilanna Barkusky’s documentary, Take Me to the Ocean, tells her remarkable story. It debuted at last year’s Cinequest Film Festival where she watched it for the first time with friends. More opportunities to view the film will likely com later this year.
“Being in the film was a highlight of my life,” said Shimoda. “I was really shocked to see myself on the big screen.”
Learn more about Shimoda’s work here.
