Vital ocean time

Jacob Wilcox.

You’ve built up a strong international reputation for surfing and other coastal photography over nearly 20 years. What have you been working on lately?

I’ve moved away from the regular surfing stuff to a certain extent because it’s such a flooded market. There’s an incredible amount of content out there for clients to choose from.

My main surf-related work at the moment is for Coastlines, a New Zealand wetsuit brand. I’ve been working for them for five years, and they purchased The Surfboard Warehouse a couple of years ago. Normally that would involve about four international trips a year to wherever they want me to go and a handful around NZ. I travel with two or three of their team riders and a videographer for maybe a couple of weeks to get surfing and lifestyle photos they can choose from for marketing their latest products. Of course, that sort of travel has been disrupted lately.

I’m also about to do a campaign for YETI Coolers. It’s the work I love – outdoor, story-based, using talented people who suit their brand, rather than, say, big-name athletes.

Teeth.

Is doing your surfing lifestyle photography in New Zealand any different from in Australia?

I love going to NZ. If you explore, you can still find spots down winding roads and tracks with absolutely no-one else around. Going around NZ with my family, I’ve paddled down rivers, through farmland, to find out if there are good waves at the end. Surf on your own for a few hours, paddle back. It’s amazing.

Also, the light’s softer throughout the whole day in NZ, and it doesn’t matter if it’s cold, grey and gloomy. That’s the look the brand wants for selling wetsuits.

Kalani Ord, NZ.

How did you get started in surf photography?

I grew up in Perth, and rugby league was my first passion. When I was 24, I moved with my wife down to Margs [Margaret River] to surf, and injured my knee. Rather than do a lot of sitting around, I started taking photos of my mates.

Photography was like an apprenticeship, trying to be as good as I could, learning mostly by mistakes. It wasn’t until I got a waterproof housing for my camera and got immersed in water that I had that really exultant feeling of freedom. Then I started shooting crazy waves – ‘slabs’ – and because that was new to the magazines, it was far easier to get published and recognised. They were pre-social media days, remember.

Mathews – Taj – The Right.

Has your overall approach to photography changed over the years?

A turning point came in 2012 when I picked up a magazine in a doctor’s waiting room and it had what were meant to be the top 10 wildlife photos of the year. I read down the list about the incredible adversity the photographers went through to get their shots. But at number one was an amazing shot of a white tiger coming out of water, shaking its head – and it was taken in a ZOO! I was like, what the…? What were the judges thinking?

But you admit it was an amazing shot.

Yes. But it made me realise I was basically the same sort of photographer as that guy, and I started to question what I was doing. This bloke was probably camped out under an umbrella, sipping lemonade, watching the tiger go in and out of the water 10 times a day. And there I was, sitting on a jet ski, shooting anything that moved, getting pictures hundreds of other photographers could do. I was seriously disillusioned.
I put the camera down for a few months, and when I picked it up again, I’d decided that the effort, skills and the whole story behind the shot was far more important than the actual moment in time. The journey itself is the most important factor.

How does that gel with your commercial work?

When I have to do a job, there are different kinds of shots they want and I’m working to their brief to the best of my ability. But for my own personal satisfaction, when I look through my work in the future, I want there to be 10 or 20 shots where I can see effort. What I like to call an ‘Ord shot’.

Single Voyage.

Speaking of effort, do you travel with a lot of equipment?

If I need to shoot surf and a lot of fast-moving action such as surfing, I’ll take my Fuji X-series gear and three or four lenses that fit in my AquaTech water housings.

If the client wants to use it for billboards and they don’t mind me missing a few things, I’ll take my medium format Fujifilm GFX100 gear. If I’m shooting medium format from the beach, I’ll use a 250mm with the 1.4 teleconverter. The camera has a 100-megapixel image sensor, so if I’m a touch too far back, I can crop it in half and it still looks amazing. In the water, I have 23mm and 110mm lenses for the GFX cased in a Dave Kelly housing.

My latest challenge is shooting surfing/ocean with medium format and flash. I get my son to hold the flash in the water while I’m on the beach or swimming alongside him. I use a Godox AD200 flash in a housing I got made for it, which is far more powerful than a normal on-camera flash. It definitely lights things up, but it’s not easy. You need the right surf conditions, when the sun’s gone down, with someone who likes surfing and swimming in the dark.

Jed Mattison

Do you have any personal projects underway?

When COVID hit (in 2020), to keep myself inspired, I started a project on people who surf at Surfers Point, Margaret River. It’s incredible how many people use their ocean time, not just for surfing and swimming, but also for mental health. Throughout the book are quotes and stories that reflect the diverse community and how vital ocean time is, especially during a crazy Covid year. I’ve been shooting people at their workplaces and swimming out in the dark for arty/different shots. I’ve also started a book project, ‘Life Around the Sea’ (available early 2025), that documents people whose lives revolve around Western Australia’s coastline. From all walks of life: surfers, fishermen, marine biologists, remote communities, families, etc. The aim is to bring awareness and encourage social and environmental change through imagery for organisations such as One Blue Ocean.

To see more of Russell Ord’s work, visit russellordphoto.com

Article by Steve Packer

Excerpt from Photo Review Issue 88