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Seas Unseen: The fine art beach photography of Steve Allsopp

Based in the small town of Noosa, in Queensland, Australia, Steve Allsopp wanted to capture the coastal panoramas of the area in a way that avoided all the normal cliches of beach photography.

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Via direct submission, all images courtesy of the artist

Via direct submission, all images courtesy of the artist

"I wanted to create something a little at odds with with the blue skies and sea, golden beaches," explains the fine art photographer. And in these striking black-and-white shots, featured in his self-published book Beach Life, he's certainly achieved that.

Allsopp spent almost three years documenting surfers and beach life near his summer home for the photo series. "My role has been to observe the everyday; the seen but unseen," he says. "To highlight space and tranquility among the hundreds of daily beach goers and challenge the usual full colour representation of Noosa. I think, that has been successfully achieved with what could well be volume one of this project."

All of the images have been made by using a Lensbaby Composer/Single Glass optic combination to achieve their distinctive look. Open edition prints and licensing are available via Allsopp's website.

Black and white beach scene with two dark umbrellas in foreground and scattered beachgoers and surfboards visible across the sand in soft focus
Two figures in wetsuits enter the ocean with waves in soft focus in this black and white photograph by Steve Allsopp
A solitary figure stands in the sea under an overcast sky in this black and white beach photograph by Steve Allsopp
Solitary figure wading into the ocean under an overcast sky in a black and white beach photograph by Steve Allsopp
Solitary surfer carrying a board wading into the ocean under stormy skies in black and white
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