The Perfect Disguise.

The idea for ‘The Perfect Disguise’ grew from spending extended periods of time enjoying one of nature's most amazing, diverse and ever changing elements – the ocean. As a result of years worth of time in and around the ocean, I feel that I have developed a very real connection with the water and the people who I share it with.

I have always been enticed by the song ‘A Horse With No Name’ by America, and particularly the following lyrics:

“The ocean is a desert with its life underground, and a perfect disguise above.”

These words are what motivated me to take a different approach for this project - taking my photography under the surface, in an attempt to take a peek behind the so called ‘perfect disguise’.

One of my favourite things to do in the ocean happens to be something that not many people get to experience – watching large waves breaking over sand or reef, viewed from underneath the water.

One person that instantly inspired me was a man named Mark Tipple, and specifically, his line of work titled ‘The Underwater Project’. His photos helped me to decide to how to document my images - I was seeking out candid moments in which most cases the subject was unaware they were being photographed.

The collection features some images of nothing but the ocean's pure power and turbulence, as well as others with fish and people in the mix. I decided to include people in some of the frames both for scale and to recognise the relationship and connection that fellow ocean lovers share with the deep.