Idell has traveled extensively throughout Asia and the Pacific photographing indigenous people and habitats. Challenging herself to scuba lessons, she expanded her inquiries to the ocean. Her interest in exploring this mysterious realm continues even after twenty years, carrying Idell into exotic and remote corners of the world. The surge and current of the water determines not only her form as a diver, but similarly the dance of the fish and feeding of soft corals with their long featherlike plumes. The camera stops the action, capturing a still image apart from the profusion of ongoing sea activity. The photographs, previously from Nikonos film cameras, are now digital using Olympus E-410s and underwater housings. Some of Idell's imagery has evolved to another level by artful composition allowing strange and rapturous fantasy to emerge (see next page of Underwater Composites). The work represented here comes from Idell's ongoing travels to the Philippines: marine sanctuaries in Batangas and Apo Island near Negros Oriental, and the Sulu Sea. For purchase or prices of single or limited editions of this work, contact the photographer in New York City or at igonaway@aol.com.