Underwater Camera

It might still be spring, but with the heat wave we've been having it's clear summer's around the corner. I'm very lucky to live in the place I do now, an apartment with central air and a rooftop pool. I'm actually shocked at how few people I've seen actually use the pool -- to be fair, I've only been here since March, but we've had plenty of hot days since then where for me, taking a dip has been a total lifesaver.

Anyway, to take advantage of the empty pool as well as do a test run for potential under-ocean photography this summer, I took some photos with my 35mm underwater camera. This particular camera fulfilled a few key purposes of being A) reloadable with the film of my choosing, B) reasonably waterproof, and C) extremely cheap.

What I didn't spend on the camera, I ended up spending on the film, though, because grabbing randomly from my pile of weird stock I put in a roll that required ECN-2 processing¹ without realizing it. My local film lab (as with most local shops) can't do ECN, so I had to ship it out to develop and scan. So I'm glad the camera worked, because otherwise that's more than I would've wanted to spend on a failed test!

Much has been said about liminal spaces, what with the sudden rise and decline of backrooms content circa 2021 or so, but even if the internet at large has moved on, I still have a soft spot for strange and empty structures and places where it feels you're not supposed to be. That's the vibe I get from the pool photos. In real life, you can only duck your head under and look for a moment, but the snapshot from underwater means you can sort of hold your breath forever and look as long as you want.