Photograph by Zackary Canepari

Image Title: The Aquadettes

Dimensions: 16x20"

Medium: Digital Inkjet Print

Year Created: 2011

Signed on recto

Image Description:

The Aquadettes are an elderly synchronized swimming team in Laguna Hills, California. When this photo was taken in 2010, we were making a short documentary film about one of their members, Margot Bauer. Margot suffers from Multiple Sclerosis and her illness had gotten so bad that she had to quit the team and was so depressed with her quality of life that she was contemplating suicide. Then someone introduced her to medical marijuana which dramatically improved her situation. She rejoined the team and was able to be significantly more active.

The photograph was part of a larger series called California is a place and The Aquadettes film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012.

Photographer's Bio:

Zackary Canepari is a visual storyteller working in a variety of different mediums. He began his career as a photojournalist in India/Pakistan before teaming with filmmaker Drea Cooper in 2010 and launching the documentary series "California is a place," which screened at Sundance.

The success of the California series led Canepari to Flint, Michigan to film the documentary feature "T-Rex," co-directed with Cooper, about teenage Olympic boxer and Flint native Claressa "T-Rex" Shields, which premiered at SXSW and was broadcast on PBS.

In 2016, Canepari was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for his project "Flint is a place," which consists of short films, virtual reality, interactive maps and archival material. The series was also awarded two World Press Photo Awards.

"Flint Town," a Netflix documentary series co-directed by Cooper and Jessica Dimmock about the Flint Police Department, was nominated for Critics Choice Documentary and IDA Documentary Awards.

www.canepariphoto.com