The Evolution of Ray Collins: From Underground to Underwater
Award-Winning **VIDEO**
Skippy Massey
Humboldt Sentinel
Ray Collins gets up before dawn, pulls on a wetsuit and jumps into the ocean swell in search of the perfect wave.
But instead of grabbing a surfboard, Collins brings a camera. That’s because he’s a renowned fine arts photographer who showcases the power of the ocean through his breathtaking seascape images.
The Australian coal-mining town of Bulli, south of Sydney, isn’t exactly regarded as a repository of high art. Nor is it a vibrant and pulsing beehive of life and color and culture.
Yet here was Ray Collins, ready to switch it up.
Seven years ago the idea of his new photography book, Found at Sea, would have seemed like ludicrous idea to him. He was still working a mile down in the dusty and dirty coal mines of Bulli and had never shot a single frame on a camera. It’s not exactly a typical situation going from coal miner to photographer in this neck of the woods.
But life has its opportune twists. Ray crawled out of the mines after irreparably blowing out a knee in an accident. “No shock absorbers left,” he glumly said. So he left the mining behind and bought a camera, embarking upon a new career with his payout.
Ray feels more at home floating in saltwater with his camera than anywhere on land, he says. Nearly color blind, it’s the ephemeral relationship between water and light that drives and inspires him to peel himself out of bed in the dark each morning.
In the short years since, he has transitioned from the subterranean world to more of a submariner one, becoming arguably the most inventive and beautiful water photographer in Australia. By capturing the ocean in different weather and lighting situations, his shots seem to display nature’s moods ranging from a stormy melancholy to jewel-toned ecstasy. Even we were blown away by his work.
Having only bought his first camera in 2007 to shoot his friends surfing around home, he quickly progressed to having companies like Apple, Nikon, United Airlines, Isuzu, Qantas, Patagonia, National Geographic and Red Bull use his unique signature seascapes for their own international campaigns.
Make no mistake: his photography takes some arduous work to do. It requires an intimate knowledge and respect for the ocean’s power, strong swimming skills, driven determination, tough technical equipment, and shooting under adverse, if not downright dangerous, conditions.
“Ray either displays a fierce dedication to his craft, or he is a complete lunatic,” Surfing World’s Editor Vaughan Blakey said bluntly.
Ray’s work appears in numerous publications and is regularly exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the world. He has won a dozen of photography’s most prestigious international awards– the most recent being the 2015 Smithsonian Annual photo contest.
It’s been a quick evolution going from black to blue. “Waves in beautiful light have always inspired me. The moods of the ocean are my priority,” Ray says. “There are no fashion trends that go into the image — just the same two constants: water and light. I find it far too beautiful to resist.”
~Via Ray Collins, My ModernMet, Vimeo
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