New York-based photographer Mijoo Kim documented South Korea’s “Sea Women” in a photo series she called ‘The Mother of the Sea.’ These women are called Haenyo and you’ll see that they are not your average grandmas…
These women in South Korea are called Haenyo, which means “Sea Women”
They swim up to depths of 65ft (20 metres) to the ocean floor where they collect sea abalones, urchins, sea cucumbers and squid
They dive without oxygen tanks and sometimes hold their breath for over 2 minutes at a time
Many of the Haenyo are over 70 years old!
They dive in the Korean Strait and the water is often freezing cold
Their numbers are slowly dwindling as young Korean women move to the mainland in search of education and employment
“These women divers are carrying on a Korean legacy and will be the last of their kind,” says photographer Mijoo Kim
“They are the last generation of Haenyo”
The practice goes as far back as the 5th century
“Being a Haenyo is certainly not meant to be for the weak,” she writes
“Hence the saying in Korea, “Haenyos do the work of the dead in the land of the living””
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