Nestled within the far southwestern corner of Australia, perched between the solace of the south coast and the urban sprawl of Perth lays a stretch of jewelled coastline, the Margaret River region. A land endearing for its concealed pockets of jarrah and marri trees, limestone cliffs, majestic surf and rolling hills kissed with the artistry of vineyards. 

 

Shimmers of azure, turquoise and sapphire inspire and invigorate, crafting a lifestyle for locals which entwines harmoniously with the rise and fall of the sun. 

 

With the endowed diversity this ocean stretch offers the individual's allure to partake in exploration stands innate. Secluded morning surfs, the ‘dawny’, have come to encapsulate the meaning of engaging in the dance of first light. 

 

A bathing ritual of the divine, a right of passage to connect beyond in the tranquillity and rawness of nature, the pull and vigour to be baptised physically and mentally daily into action, breath, connection, struggle and meditation.

 

I spent a year in the region documenting the hidden happenings occurring within the initial inklings of first light and how people and the land interact in these beginning and cyclical moments of serenity. These events are discrete, personal and essential to the character and belonging of the people who call it home.