Toes Forward Photography

Photography – Sydney

At twenty-eight-years-old, I have come to find that I am happiest when I have a camera in my hand, flowing with the sea. When I’m dreaming of the photos I want to create, I’m waiting for the sunrise to pull my body into the water. I have a passion for capturing the beauty all around us and I gain a genuine bliss when get to share my photos with the people I cross paths with no matter what part of the world I’m in. I grew up in Imperial Beach, California. A small yet evolving beach community on the United States - Mexico border. Despite my home’s proximity to the beach, I grew up with the notion that the ocean was dangerous and untrustworthy. Within my traditional Mexican family, I had one uncle who was a scuba diver in Rosarito, Mexico and even when we went to go visit him, my parents would pull me back from the water telling me that the ocean would suck my under if I went any further. Something was always telling me that I wanted my toes to move forward. Something in me wanted to be sucked into the crashing waves. At twenty, I persevered and kept on stepping forward. I decided to work at a local surf camp in Imperial Beach. Despite the intuitive and radical nature of this decision, my family reminded me that I didn’t even know how to swim. But I the ocean still called to me and I trusted the pull. I embraced the job and got to fall asleep and wake up to the sweet sound of the waves. The challenge of something so new made me feel alive and vulnerable in a soothing way. The ocean quickly became my first true love. Now, the endless salt in my hair and the sand on my skin pays tribute to the endless hours that I spend with with the ocean, my love. In these moments my passion and my love come together like my feet to my longboard. I can capture images in the ocean that showcase what I now feel like when I’m at one with the waves. Ocean photography is a conduit to take people on this journey. A journey where they feel minuscule and grandiose at the same time, a true roller coaster of amazing feelings. I want to take you on this journey with me and I want you to witness my passion and love collide.