In this issue’s Portfolio, Steve Shearer profiles Australian shooter Ed Sloane, tracking how the young lensman transitioned from a career in the sciences to professional surf photography.
“Sloane was born and bred in the inland Victorian town of Ballarat,” writes Shearer of his subject. “He picked up surfing at a young age, running weekend trips to the coast through high school and university, where he graduated as an environmental scientist. That qualification got him a career as a hydrologist working mostly outside in the rugged mountainous terrain of the Otway Ranges. Shooting surf started in 2009 when he picked up a camera from his brother who was a keen photographer.
“Second time I ever shot anything was at Bird Rock on a nice clean morning and, straight up, I knew this was it. This was what I wanted to do. Since then, it’s been a pretty steep trajectory.”
“‘I was working full-time,” Sloane says, ‘and had the money to buy housings and just thought, fuck it, I’m going to swim straight away. Second time I ever shot anything was at Bird Rock on a nice clean morning and, straight up, I knew this was it. This was what I wanted to do. Since then, it’s been a pretty steep trajectory.’”
For the gallery above, we gathered the surplus from Sloane’s nonsensically deep print submission. To read more about his approach, and to scan full-bleed inkage of his photography, pick up a copy of 25.6.
