An interview with Alison Bounce
Alison Bounce is a French underwater photographer and visual artist. Her work explores motherhood, the feminine body, and transformation through the poetic lens of water. Inspired by mythology and personal experience, she creates immersive portraits that celebrate vulnerability, strength and rebirth.
But how has becoming a mother herself informed her approach to underwater maternity photography? Here Alison shares some of her thoughts on motivation, creativity, memory, and the art of becoming a mother.
"These images are much more than pretty memories. They are anchors, emotional fossils, fragments of time that carry deep meaning."
Has the motivation to create maternity photos changed since becoming a mother?
Absolutely. Becoming a mother was a turning point. Before, I was photographing motherhood with sensitivity, but still from the outside. Now, I feel it from within. I’ve come to realize that these images are much more than pretty memories. They are anchors, emotional fossils, fragments of time that carry deep meaning. They are not just souvenirs, they are legacy.
I grew up with very few photos of my mother, and almost none of her while she was pregnant. There’s a part of our story that remains invisible to me. I wish I could have seen what she looked like, what she carried, what passed between us even before I was born. So today, as a photographer, I create what I never had. I do it for my clients, and also for my own child.
One of Alison's own maternity photos. © Alison Bounce
With my partner, we document our daily life. We upload everything to private clouds, so our son will always have access to these memories. This is not just archiving, it’s identity-building. Becoming a mother gave me a sense of duty: to use my skills as a photographer and filmmaker to offer future generations a sense of where they come from, of who they are. To say: you were awaited, you were loved, you were carried with intention.
Maternity or not, Alison's underwater photos have a distinct style that capture power and softness all at once. © Alison Bounce
How do you balance your creative work and being a mother?
I don’t think balance is something you ever fully achieve. It shifts constantly, like a tide. In our case, things were even more intense. Our baby had silent reflux due to a cow's milk protein intolerance, which made the early months very demanding. I breastfed for a long time, partly by choice, partly out of necessity. And we had very little childcare, at first just one day per week, then two, and only since January 2025, three days a week.
That means I have just three days to do everything: create, run a business, answer clients, deliver work, prepare new projects, and teach. So I’ve learned to focus. I was already fairly efficient before motherhood, but now I’ve refined that skill. I’ve stopped doing anything that doesn't serve my creative goals or my family life. I let go of anything that didn’t offer a clear return, including certain social media platforms that were simply too time-consuming.
"This inner journey has made my art bolder and more intuitive."
We are all different, and what matters most is what truly fuels us, the work we enjoy and believe in. Not comparison, but alignment. And yes, there are days when I feel overwhelmed, when I “swallow a little water.” But even if I hit bottom, I know I can always push off from it and rise again stronger, clearer, and more propelled. Just like in freediving: it’s not about how deep you go, but the momentum you find to return to the light.
Has motherhood changed your creative style?
Without question. My work was already influenced by mythology, classical painting, and Renaissance aesthetics. But motherhood brought a new layer of sacredness. I experienced pregnancy as a form of transcendence, not just the act of creating life, but the deep transformation it initiates within. What I like to call matrescence, a beautiful word blending maternity and transformation.
Alison's work has traditionally included aspects of mythology and renaissance aesthetics. © Alison Bounce
This inner journey has made my art bolder and more intuitive. I’ve embraced softness with more confidence. I allow for more silence, more blur, more breath in my images. I seek to reveal the emotional rather than the obvious. I want each photograph to honour the inner power of women, especially during this season of life when everything shifts, the body, the mind, the sense of self. Pregnancy, to me, is not just a transition. It’s a rebirth.
"That’s what I try to create now. Not just an underwater shoot, but a rite of passage... the one between a mother and her child, and also the one with herself."
© Alison Bounce
How has becoming a mother changed your approach to underwater photography?
My relationship with water has changed profoundly. It now holds a symbolic role, like a return to the womb, to the amniotic fluid, the suspended state between two worlds. Photographing underwater is like capturing that memory. For pregnant women, it’s a way to reconnect to that primal space, to experience a moment of calm before the transformation.
Alison's maternity shoots seek to capture matresence: the transformative passage into motherhood. © Alison Bounce
Water holds our vulnerability without judgment. It softens and surrounds, like a cocoon. It reminds me of the way a she-wolf retreats to a hidden den to prepare for birth: protected, wild, and instinctive. That’s what I try to create now. Not just an underwater shoot, but a rite of passage. A poetic and symbolic immersion. A way to begin the most beautiful encounter, the one between a mother and her child, and also the one with herself.
Want to dive deeper with Alison?
Alison authored an underwater photography book Les Secrets du Portrait Underwater: Matériel - Techniques - Posing - Post-traitement which is available for purchase on Amazon (French edition only). If you'd like to book your own underwater photoshoot with Alison visit her website www.alisonbounceunderwater.com.
Additional Viewing
5 Tips to Improve Your Underwater Portrait Pool Photography
REBORN // Underwater Documentary Film on Endometriosis [VIDEO]
Behind the Scenes of Alison Bounce's Underwater Portraiture Workshop
What a Wildlife Filmmaker Learned From an Underwater Maternity Photoshoot
Ambassador Alison Bounce is a French underwater photographer who creates poetic and emotional portraits inspired by mythology, motherhood and movement. Her sessions take place in the sea or in calm waters, offering a gentle and powerful space for women, couples and families to reconnect with themselves. Her work explores transformation, rebirth and self-expression. A journey shaped by water and light. Check out her work at alisonbounceunderwater.com and follow her on Instagram @alisonbounceunderwater
