Life Around The Sea

Life Around the Sea is a visual and written meditation on the Australian coastline — a meeting of image and language shaped by long hours spent observing the ocean, not from a distance, but from within it.

Photographed by Russell Ord, the work draws from years of immersion in the water, capturing the coast as something lived and felt rather than simply seen. Ord’s photographs move between scale and intimacy: the power of the Southern Ocean, the quiet geometry of foam and light, and the fleeting moments that exist only for a heartbeat before dissolving back into motion. His approach is grounded in patience and proximity — waiting, watching, and entering the water to understand it on its own terms.

Accompanying the images are words by Alex Workman, whose writing brings a deep cultural and emotional resonance to the work. Alex's text reflects on the Australian relationship with the sea — its beauty, danger, generosity, and indifference — offering a lyrical counterpoint to the imagery. Together, the photographs and writing form a dialogue: one visual, one literary, both rooted in respect for place and experience.

Rather than documenting the coast as a destination, Life Around the Sea explores it as an ongoing presence — something that shapes identity, memory, and rhythm. There is no attempt to tame or romanticise the ocean here. Instead, the book invites a slower form of looking, one that acknowledges the coast as a living system that rewards attention and humility.

Available on back order!