THE Northern Echo's Camera Club has more than 2,000 members, and this week we are taking a closer look at one of its members, Deborah Todd.

She has taken this selection of photographs of an open water swim at Roker Beach, Sunderland.

She said: "I’m a second year student in my second year studying BA Photographic practise.

"This concentrated on documentary amongst other things and my specialism is portraiture. One project is going to be about inclusivity and how people who aren’t perfect or with physical differences aren’t well represented.

"I did a model call and one of the guys who swims contacted me saying he would be up for a shoot. I contacted organiser Chris Nicks who was happy for me to come along. This group was formed as there has already been a group of women-only, open water swimmers called the Wild Sea Women. The men weren’t allowed to join in so they meet once a week further down the coast.

"They do this for many benefits. For some of them it’s to help with physical pain and mobility, some it’s mental health and others it’s just the buzz!"

"My first shots were in the fog which worked really well but I couldn’t get the quality as I couldn’t get close enough with my Canon 5D and didn’t want it to get wet – I returned with a waterproof camera for the underwater shots."