Surf photography like no other - Joni Sternbach

Daniel, Rincon, 2010

Still no surfing for me so I have been entertaining myself with yoga, surf checks and revisiting old favourites, like surf photographer Joni Sternbach.

The sports doc suggested I try some yoga so I trotted off and did five classes in one week. Loving it sick! One of the yoga studios is in the middle of a bush block and is the picture of om-shanti-shanti. I was stoked not by my mindfulness or flexibility but by managing significant eye contact with a hot surfer whilst we were both hanging upside down in ropes. Taking flirting to a new level. Awesome!

Tripoli, Ditch Plains, 2007

The surf was pretty bloody good over the weekend so I did a Bells Beach carpark (aka a sausage forest hotspot) drive-by to watch the action. Yep, all kinds of action. Yew!

But, back to Joni.

Minnie & Lulu, Ditch Plains, 2006

I love her work.

She uses an historic photographic method called wet-plate collodion process. It involves a large format camera and processing and developing the one-of-a-kind images on the spot.

I love these images because of their anthropological quality, their beauty and she says the collodion process is spontaneous and unpredictable. A bit like surfing really.

Los caballeros de las olas, Santa Barbara, 2013