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West Seattle artist sees water in a whole new light

People assume she's there to photograph fish, not realizing they are Deb Achak's subjects.

SEATTLE — Deb Achak says she does her best work by accident. Like a photo of a line of kids climbing out of the water onto a rock.

"I wasn't in this spot cuz I wanted to shoot this. I was in this spot cuz my son was on the rocks and I wanted to make sure he was okay," Deb says.

This self-taught photographer shoots her images mostly from the water, which gives her a unique perspective.

"I find this so fascinating, that we can see above the water, below the water...the surface of the water. It's like revealing this hidden world really."

A photo of her husband playing in the waves is taken from 8 feet below the water.

"You get to see the architecture of a wave."

Her career is kind of an accident too.

"It's really a story of motherhood because I began shooting to capture my children."

Her first camera was her phone.

"The moment I picked up a camera when they were young, I just never put it down again."

Water and those in it were a natural subject. She grew up playing at the beach as a kid in New Hampshire.

"I'm just really lit up by people gathering near water. There's something about how peaceful everyone is? How joyful they are. The most delightful thing really is people assume I'm there to shoot fish. So often not realizing they are my subject."

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