bondi0082

I was standing in the waves at Bondi beach last week with an underwater photographer friend whom I’ll call the amphibian. I’d flown down to Sydney for a week and really wanted to get out into the famously clear water of Bondi to get some great wave shots.

The idea was good. The waves weren’t. The bay was virtually flat. No surfers. “It’s the southerlies,” said the amphibian. I nodded blankly in agreement. I had no idea what she was talking about. “The current,” she said, “I’m not even going to bother shooting today.” Apparently, the cold we were experiencing came from a southerly that originated all the way down in Antarctica. It’s not always bracing at Bondi. Being a good tourist, I gamely loaded the Nikonos, thinking well, I’ve come all this way, why not take a picture. We left our flippers with our towels and waded out into the break.

The water was cold (the southerlies!). I was grateful for the long-sleeved rashie and boardies that made me a fashion eye-sore on the beaches of Surfers but seemed a sensible and even enviable ensemble at southerlies-struck Bondi. The amphibian wore a bikini and dove into the first wave without a flinch. She’s tough.

“So, what should I shoot,” I asked. There was no-one around. No-one to stalk underwater. Just some bait fish swimming around my toes.

bondi0033

The amphibian said something about the clouds of sand that form on the bottom after a wave breaks. I looked. Cool. She told me about how sometimes when backlit, the waves give off this awesome blue. Or how there’s a point right when the wave curls, the light comes through like shards of crystal. Or how violent the water looks when you lie at the bottom, watching waves break over you. After a couple of hours of this, I began to develop a new respect for those surf photographers and wave photographers that my students back on the Gold Coast idolise. They see this every time they wade into the surf. And when they’ve got their cameras, there’s a smorgasbord of moments waiting for them. I’m only just beginning to see this.

I’ve been shooting above sea level for 20 years. Around 10 years ago I took an Ewa plastic housing to a swimming pool to get a different perspective on a moms and tots swimming school. I was instantly transported into another world.

When I moved to Australia, I decided I’d learn to document the water world. Two years ago my dad brought me a rare new Nikonos V, purchased from my hometown of Calgary, a land-locked city 1100 metres above sea level. Go figure.

Since then, I’ve been making tentative work with it. Kids in the pool. A photo camp excursion to the beach. The Great Barrier Reef. A swimming hole in Far North Queensland. And now Bondi. Each time I go through the ritual of cleaning, lubricating the o-rings and loading the film, I wonder, “what now?” I don’t know what to expect. But that’s okay. After 20+ years of anticipating the moment, it’s nice to be surprised.