The Photographic Journal

Selkie’s Skin

Essay 529 • Jun 27th 2023

On a windy week in October, thirty women sail to a mystic British isle looking for The Selkie. The Selkie is no mermaid, she is a mystical seal-like creature. When the Selkie goes ashore, they leave their seal skin behind and assume the form of a beautiful woman. Often, these skins are stolen by men on the land and hidden, so that the Selkie is trapped and forced to marry and live as a human.

What happens when the thirty women who just landed ashore hear the wind and water calling them back?

















 

Celina Odeh is a Palestinian-Lebanese photographer whose work aims to explore fantasy and immortalize the ephemeral. She can be found in her studio among the Appalachians.
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