IJ-NIMFEN

Every morning, just after dawn, a small band of women step out from the Silodam and slip into the steel-grey IJ river in Amsterdam. Since December 2020 I’ve joined them—sometimes in the water—to document this daily ritual and the ties it forges: between the swimmers themselves, their riverside homes, and the cold that steadies the mind. IJ-nimfen traces the passage from apartment to river, where a few minutes of immersion is part mental health check and part act of resolve. I was curious how — amid swans, passing ships, and winter chop — routine and community intersect, and how a shared plunge can reshape the day.