Welcome to a new week and the beginning of winter. It was a cold, clear morning down at Bondi with small, weak limping waist to chest high waves (inconsistent).
The shortest day of the year in the southern hemisphere is June 21, a few weeks away. That means the sunrise is late at this time of year. I sit on the beach on these cold mornings, waiting for the sun to peer over Ben Buckler, illuminating my subjects and, most importantly, making it comfortable […]
Eugene Tan (::Uge) started taking photos when he was nine. He’s a self taught tinkerer, a constant experimenter and a relentless documenter who likes to shoot unassisted, mainly at sunrise. If conditions permit you’ll find :: Uge swimming with his camera or dangling out of helicopters, …constantly hunting for new angles on his favourite subjects.
Photography is a way for him to explore his first love, the beach. And since he lives at the beach, that means documenting his home, Bondi. He’s a beach bum. Most of the time he’s either on the beach shooting, digging holes in the sand with his kids or in the line up. And because :: Uge and his family live smack bang in the middle of Bondi, a stone’s throw from his Aquabumps Gallery, you’ll rarely find him further than 300 metres from the shoreline. Close enough to catch those magic Bondi moments when they happen, with his camera, his board or both.
Aquabumps started in 1999 back when the internet was brand new and social media didn’t even have a name. It began as a hobby … a photo a day from the beach emailed to mates. It grew organically. Twenty years later Aquabumps’ photographs are now seen by hundreds of thousands of people, daily.
The best of :: Uge’s work hangs in the Aquabumps Gallery 151 Curlewis Street Bondi Beach NSW 2026 Telephone 02 9130 7788 Australia. Yes, they can be shipped globally.
