Ray Collins is a photographer who is particularly interested in capturing the feeling that waves evoke. The ocean, in his view, is a living, breathing creature, and he intends to create photographs of it. “I want to illustrate its moods,” the photographer explains in his statement.
It’s not always going to be palm trees and white beach, do you realize that? It’s a tremendously potent concentration of energy all rolled into one. The fact that everything is temporary and fleeting in nature. When I go swimming with my camera, I always have the expectation that I will get a shot of something that I have never seen before. This expectation motivates me to keep running, as he explains.
Collins also discussed how an incident that occurred in 2017 inspired him to pursue photography. When the accident occurred, Collins was 25 years old. He enjoyed going out to clubs and surfing, but because of his right knee injury, he was unable to even drive his own vehicle. When everything in his life came to a complete halt, he turned to photography as a way to pass the time.
“I hurt my knee while working in an underground coal mine, and I needed something to challenge myself mentally while I was in rehabilitation, so I purchased a camera, spent a lot of time reading the manual, and took pictures of my dog while observing how the different buttons and dials changed the way the images looked. After a few months, my doctor suggested that I swim to help strengthen my knee, so I purchased a water housing for my camera and soon took it into the surf.
In the gallery that follows, you can see some of the great images that he has taken.
More info: raycollinsphoto.com | Facebook | Instagram
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