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Some call it an art. Some call it a form of exercising. But for Brett Stanley, pole dancing is an underwater photography opportunity.

The Los Angeles-based photographer has taken to capturing ethereal images of pole dancers in action underwater while holding their breath. The goal of the shoot is to portray pole dancing not as a sleazy club dance, but rather in its true artistic form. Or as Stanley describes it, “[pole dancing is] a beautiful sport, not just an erotic performance.”

The photographer shared the difficult in-water shoot through a behind the scenes video. Not surprisingly, the difficulty of pole dancing only increases underwater for both the photographer and the performer.

“I can hold my breath for over 60 seconds generally,” Stanley told Barcroft TV. “[That’s] usually long enough to get the shots, but I did have three amazing models from Japan who could stay down for three times that long. I tried to keep up and it nearly killed me!”

Check out the sweet behind the scenes video of the shoot.