Editor’s Note: Spot Snapshot is a series that highlights an image and explains what you’d never know by simply looking at it. As the cliché goes, “a picture is worth 1000 words.” Here, a featured photographer brings you both.
Photo: Joel Coleman
I’m a self-taught ocean photographer based in Sydney, but I’ve photographed beaches and oceans around the world. My photography style is predominantly organic in nature – I’ll put myself on the beach, in the surf lineup, at the bottom of a reef, and use light and shadows to capture just how I see the world.
There are, however a few images that are choreographed. To date, these are the only images that I’ve conjured up mentally, then created in order to produce a unique art piece.
Each of my images has a story behind it. The one above, entitled “The Quiver Tree,” was something I thought about for almost a year. I’ll often get ideas in my head for different photographs I’d like to setup and make come to life. Some of them involve exotic destinations, some just need the right kind of ocean conditions, and others, like this one, just need a few mates, a couple of take out pizzas, some creative outdoor lighting, and a calm winter night.
Images are available from Coleman’s art gallery called Saltmotion Gallery in Manly, or online at saltmotion.com. You can follow Joel on Instagram @saltmotion or on facebook.
