JAMIE WAX: A lot of his photographs are shot in remote areas at night, a place he says fear and possibility coexist. The process is intense, at times with Relle in up to 25 feet of water for hours at a time, and he's not usually alone.

You have been in situations where 15 to 20 alligators are surrounding you in maybe 16 feet of water.



JAMIE WAX: And you say you're not afraid of that situation?

FRANK RELLE: No. I know that people, in those situations-- you know, I know that people are afraid. But I typically feel very calm in the natural world, and that calm-- you know, being down in the water, despite the fact that there are alligators in the water, is a calming experience for me.

FRANK RELLE: Sometimes. It's a feeling that you get from the tree.

JAMIE WAX: In the middle of the night, the only souls four miles, deep in Maurepas Swamp, in freezing water, sinking in quicksand mud filled with alligators in a hibernation-like state, it was Frank Relle's happy place.

FRANK RELLE: Lighting is everything. I mean, lighting is the language. It's the music of-- of photography. There's there what you're photographing. There's the subject. And the light is the feel, you know, being able to-- to work at night and, you know-- and shape light to create that feeling-- it's-- it's the key.

JAMIE WAX: And to know Frank Relle and his work is to know that the light doesn't just come from without but also within.

Look at your smile right now. I mean, you are really living your boyhood dream in a lot of ways.

FRANK RELLE: I completely am, and I-- I feel so lucky for that. It's amazing. Finding that path has been, you know, full of challenges and hurdles, and right now in this moment I feel really grateful for, you know, being able to make my way there and-- and excited about what comes next.

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