Photographer

Josh Clark

Finalist in

Upper Secondary Category

Written Statement

The term ‘turbulence’ can be connected to the idea of a disruption as well as the changes in water transparency. I tried to explore both meanings in my images. Ocean waves particularly, seemed to embody the theme in all aspects. My images explore the scene of waves crashing in the surf.

In the first image, sand is being churned up and fish begin to show themselves. This scene is a fleeting moment as the sand in the water hasn’t begun to blur the images. All images were taken in the same spot at the same time; giving various perspectives of the moment. I used a fast shutter speed for one of the images to capture the action in the short-lived moment. The faster shutter speed also allowed me to capture more detail to the sand and wave itself. The fish image was photographed with a slightly slower shutter speed as a means of capturing the motion of the moving sand; contrasted by the stationary fish. The low camera angle emphasises the wave and intensity of the unfolding scene.

All the images are Photoshopped for impact. Filters allowed me to blackout the background to draw attention to the focal points of the various images. The monochromatic style also seemed to fit the eerie and tense feel of the images. For one of the images, I used a double exposure to show how turbulence can occur in the mind as well as in the ocean. A clouded and intense mind I feel can be represented in the movement and raw power of an ocean wave. My images work together to explore how turbulence can occur in our minds all the way to the most violent oceans, and that in moments of turbulence and disorientation lie fleeting moments of beauty.