Shelli Bankier
Surf Photographer
Gold Coast, Australia
- visit: www.bluespherephotography.com
- email: [email protected]
The beauty of the blue sphere…
The pulse of the earth is the energetic power of water, the strongest element… The symphony of the sun, moon and Mother Earth and the energy that moves through Oceans to create the perfect movement of a wave…
How to describe the captivating grace of the Ocean in words… It seems not enough. A photograph, an image made with Light, gives much more, capturing a freeze frame moment in time of the universal energy that moves through water, begun so near or so far away, the Ocean's heartbeat… Sounding the drum as the water falls…
My photographic work of the vast Ocean blue steps away from commercial surf photography. Growing up on a yacht sailing around the world profoundly connected me to the Sea, giving me saltwater in my veins. I have always felt a strong affinity and passionate love for the Ocean, of the beauty and freedom that the Ocean so inspires… This ties in to my love of photography, having received my first camera when I was two years old and while growing up, being inspired by my dad, an avid amateur cameraman. I began surfing at thirteen but at sixteen was injured with a spinal injury in a car accident and had to learn how to walk and surf again. Surf and ocean photography for me is a way to connect to the ocean through a unique vision.
Being blessed to live on one of the most beautiful coastlines on the globe, and having travelled and learnt from some of the best surf photographers in the world, I am able to paint with my camera, to capture these singular moments in time… I like to let my photography speak for itself, to create a scenic ambience, a free sense of space and bring the Ocean in through the windows of my images…
…A window to another place, of water and Ocean dreams… To awaken eyes to the great Ocean that supports all life, as Water and Ocean are the essence of all life on this planet the basis of the elemental cycles that sustain the world, and to the care we must all give in appreciation… That now is the time to change humanity's effect on the world…
Photographing the Ocean over the past eight years has shown me the energetic flow of the Ocean waves as the water moves and breaks, and has taught me to see and describe in my imagery, through the camera eye, the form and texture, the importance of light, the pivotal moment, that balance of movement and the space in-between… A space of stillness, of an in-breath and an out-breath.
This transcribes into other areas of my photographic work, such as portrait, band and 'fashion' photography - the awareness of that balance of moments, energy, form and light.
Understand the Oceans…