The Coast photographs of Bondi beach
These photographs of Sydney beaches include some that were taken for an exhibition with five other photographers entitled ’24 Hours in Bondi.’ They are a marker in the development of my photography career both in terms of the technique used and their inclusion in the first exhibition to feature my work.
To make the most of the chosen Saturday I had joined the early beach strollers and watched life savers and youngsters being put through their paces. After taking a few shots I added a polarising filter on my lens to intensify colours and intuitively chose to manually soft focus.Things started to look more like they felt, kind of distanced with a dreamy, slightly unreal air. A father fishing with his son, nippers running to have their names checked and lifeguards gazing out to sea appeared to slow down and be enveloped by nostalgia. It felt as if I was looking back on the day before it had really started and finished.
When I had the film developed the following Monday I requested that some rolls be cross processed, a technique that further boosted the contrast, colour and film grain. That early morning session proved the most fruitful. In those days I shot sparingly to save costs so choosing the six best images to have printed and exhibited in the Bondi pavilion was relatively easy compared to selecting from the more expansive approach that I take today with a digital camera.
