This is a portrait of Matthew Mitcham, the diver, the icon and the person behind the pretty face. I chose to portray Matt in the element of water. Water being the metaphor for change and re-birth. Water, the uncontainable, the intangible. I wanted my portrait of Matt to have aspects of a Divine being, combined with deep dark emotions and a sense of optimism. Ambiguity was the key. I discovered that this is also a subconscious self-portrait based on a repressed memory that had been recently brought back to me from my childhood in Rome. A story that, at the time I was shooting Matt’s portrait, was going around in my head, something that I wanted to resolve from my first ever swimming lesson, which took place at the Foro Italico with post Fascist-era teachers who were extremely strict and severe in their long white coats. In front of everyone, I was told to jump in the ice-filled pool and to swim to the other end, to test my ability. Not being able to swim, but refusing to be defeated, I jumped in and walked/dragged my way along the bottom of the pool, a few metres at a time, coming up in between. Gasping for air, I continued in this manner until I reached the other side.

So this portrait is also metaphor of perseverance and determination despite the odds and how I relate, on a personal level, to the lesser-known and dark side of Matthew Mitcham the survivor.

RENATO GROME