Running under the waves

Photographer Narelle Autio lives in the Australian city of Adelaide. Her photographs of underwater coastal life can be seen in exhibitions around the world.

In the water, all people are very beautiful: they become bolder and calmer, and their movements become smoother and easier. The feeling of freedom while swimming allows us to be real, the way we really are.

(Total 10 photos)

I grew up in Australia, on the ocean, but did not appreciate my connection with him until I moved to another country. And when she returned, after many years, she noticed how people are drawn to the shores on which they grew up. And the attraction seems to be mutual. I like the purity of salt water. For the past 12 years, my technique and equipment has remained simple: deep breath, small camera, and slide film - I love it for its dark color density and saturation. I'm still fascinated by the magic of the darkroom.

On hot days, I'm where the waves start. Before they crash, I dive to the bottom. A flash of sunlight seeps through the curve of the wave, illuminating the swimmers directly above me. They look like actors dancing or flying on an underwater stage. I take a picture, float up, inhale, and lower again. You can spend a whole day on 36 frames. We love the sea, but we pollute it. I get desperate, thinking about what we will leave for our children. But still, I'm an optimist. If we are still able to notice the beauty of nature, then we can learn to preserve it.

1. Swimmers splash around Sydney's Freshwater Beach. For many of us, water is just a playground. But for me, these photos mean something more - they represent a sense of community of the entire human race.

2. Huge waves are breaking off the eastern coast of Australia, and the father is trying to pull his son to him. I get into the same powerful current as the swimmers, and therefore, until the film is developed, as is often the case with me, I will not know for sure what will be in the pictures.

3.

4.

5. Having dived near the popular Sydney beach, the girl emerges from the sandy bottom. Her life now depends on a breath of air. The ocean, fraught with many unforeseen dangers, is not an enemy to man, but a friend - it is arranged in such a way that we float to the top.

6.

7.

8. At Bondi Beach, near Sydney, a young woman dives to escape a huge wave, which at that moment passes over her head. It's always a pleasant surprise for me if the light, the wave and the swimmer hit the camera lens all at once.

9.

10.