Life Around the Sea

Capturing the Heart of Australian Surf Culture

Russell Ord, Alex Workman

$399

Hardback

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English

Images Publishing Group Pty Ltd
01 March 2025

Photographs: collections; Landscape art & architecture; Surfing, windsurfing, water skiing

Life Around the Sea is an odyssey through which we can explore the existence of those whose hearts beat in unison with the rhythmic swells of the ocean.

This book features stories of individuals who have discovered their true selves among the salt, sand, and surf. We encounter people from all walks of life, such as the surfer who first felt the tender caress of a wave in their childhood, the fearless and infamous big-wave riders, the artists drawn to the coastline to bring its ancient beauty to life, and the shapers who expertly craft boards for wave seekers around the globe.

The power of these narratives is truly magnified by the striking images alongside them, assembled by accomplished photographer Russell Ord. His lens captures the essence of each unique individual, revealing the depth of their profound connection to the sea. His images provide another dimension to their stories, allowing us to gaze into the eyes of the ocean's kin, feel the salt on their skin, and experience the majesty of the sea through their perspectives.

AUTHORS: Russell Ord is an Australian photographer best known for his striking surf and ocean photography. Ord grew up playing rugby league, surfing, and working as a firefighter. He began pursuing photography seriously in the early 2000s and quickly made a name for himself with his intense, dramatic images of big-wave surfing and ocean landscapes. Russell's work is regularly featured in numerous publications, including The Surfer's Journal, Tracks, and Australian Surfing Life, and he has won multiple awards for his photography. He is particularly well known for his willingness to take risks in pursuit of the perfect shot, often putting himself in dangerous situations to capture the power and beauty of the ocean. Russell's unique talents culminated in his documentation of a violent twist of the Indian Ocean. The hard-won and career-defining image, known simply as The Right, was the focal point for his celebrated documentary One Shot.

Alex Workman is a surf journalist from Australia. His love of surfing has taken him around the world covering stories on the world's best surfers and culture shifters, working for Tracks Magazine and the World Surf League. A published writer and documentary producer, his career has given him access to hang with world champions, shapers, artists and a band of surfing misfits who, like he, have hitched their lives to the rhythm of the waves. He resides in Byron Bay with his young family where he regularly pushes them into waves of their own.

SELLING POINTS: .

An essential book for anyone who lives and breathes surfing or delights in the splendour that nature - in particular, the ocean - has to offer .

Displaying full-colour and black-and-white photography of breathtaking scenes from surf beaches across Australia Photographs are grouped together by region, providing a visual journey that begins and ends in Western Australia, the home of photographer Russell Ord .

Profiles in narrative form are scattered throughout the book, providing glimpses into people's lives - from professionals in the industry such as known legend Tom Carroll, to everyday people who feel the call to the sea and surf for the pure love of the sport .

The book features people who live close to the water, as well as those who travel to seek the waves their hearts desire .

A key theme in Life Around the Sea is the connection shared between surfers and the ocean, and the bond surfers therefore have with each other. A sense of peace, harmony, and community is felt among surfers far and wide .

This book is a beautiful tribute to the surfing culture in Australia and the awe-inspiring waves its beaches can conjure .

Special slip cased edition, limited to 200 copies

270 colour, 32 b/w illustrations

By: Russell Ord, Alex Workman
Imprint: Images Publishing Group Pty Ltd
Country of Publication: Australia
Edition: Special edition
Dimensions: Height: 330mm, Width: 280mm, Spine: 300mm
Weight: 3.374kg
ISBN: 9781875498345
ISBN 10: 1875498346
Pages: 312
Publication Date: 01 March 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , General/trade , ELT Advanced , A / AS level
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Unspecified

Russell Ord is an Australian photographer best known for his striking surf and ocean photography. Ord grew up playing rugby league, surfing, and working as a firefighter. He began pursuing photography seriously in the early 2000s and quickly made a name for himself with his intense, dramatic images of big-wave surfing and ocean landscapes. Russell’s work is regularly featured in numerous publications, including The Surfer’s Journal, Tracks, and Australian Surfing Life, and he has won multiple awards for his photography. He is particularly well known for his willingness to take risks in pursuit of the perfect shot, often putting himself in dangerous situations to capture the power and beauty of the ocean. Russell’s unique talents culminated in his documentation of a violent twist of the Indian Ocean. The hard-won and career-defining image, known simply as “The Right,” was the focal point for his celebrated documentary One Shot. Alex Workman is a surf journalist from Australia. His love of surfing has taken him around the world covering stories on the world’s best surfers and culture shifters, working for Tracks Magazine and the World Surf League. A published writer and documentary producer, his career has given him access to hang with world champions, shapers, artists and a band of surfing misfits who, like he, have hitched their lives to the rhythm of the waves. He resides in Byron Bay with his young family where he regularly pushes them into waves of their own.

Reviews for Life Around the Sea: Capturing the Heart of Australian Surf Culture

aJuan Gabriel VAsquez is one of the most original new voices of Latin American literature. His first novel, The Informers, a very powerful story about the shadowy years immediately following World War II, is testimony to the richness of his imagination as well as the subtlety and elegance of his prose.a aMario Vargas Llosa, author of The Bad Girl and The Feast of the Goat aA fine and frightening study of how the past preys upon the present, and an absorbing revelation of a little-known wing of the theatre of the Nazi war.a aJohn Banville, Booker Prizea winning author of The Sea aAs if mature John le CarrA(c) had wandered into the narrative labyrinths of Borges.a a The Independent