The reef is swaying from side to side. The giant monsters keep sweeping it’s surface where the waves collide. They do it with grace yet require respect due to their sheer size.

It’s another day on the ocean bed where the different worlds meet and live in symbiosis. Whether that’s mantas eating plankton, fish cleaning turtle’s shell or fish eating smaller fish. 

They are all minding their own business whether being watched or not. 

Knowing their purpose and embracing the cycle of life.

Model: Zoey. Bali, Indonesia. 2022.

Model: Zoey. Bali, Indonesia. 2022.

I hop on a motorbike expecting the inevitable. It’s a very light rain outside, but I know things can change in a blink of an eye. I speed up to make it on time, passing a few people dressed in jackets and ponchos going the other way. The streetlights are dim, and I rarely see any soul, as if everyone is expecting the moment the sky will fall.

I arrive at the pantai Pererenan and look around. The pristine waves are coming and going. The darkness selects for me what I should be seeing. The skies blend with the sea. I can see the tension on the black canvass. I feel I want to take this moment in entirely, yet I fail with my mind making suggestions I should be elsewhere. I take a few shots.

The rain increases. I hop on my vehicle and make haste. In a few minutes, I will see the torrents of rain pouring down. Making waves, creating rivers, and cleansing mother earth from whatever is on the surface. 

Note to self.

Make space for new by going cart blanche. No reading, writing, free from thoughts of others. 

aspirations.

Sorry to leave you like that. I’ve given you some of my best years. Got to love your quirks and imperfections. The wild nights and cozy mornings, summer colours as well as winter blacks and whites. You’ve given back with acceptance, hope, openness and new possibilities. Thanks to you I met people who became my true friends. People I can rely on. People I cherish moments with. Always my home.

It’s not a farewell, it’s a ‘bye’. 

Ola. Warsaw, Poland

Model: Ola. Warsaw, Poland. 2022.