Matt BAGLEY
“I like to capture the stillness, beauty and calm that I feel when I'm in the water”
Designer, art director and creative strategist Matt Bagley uses his photography to balance his life with projects he feels truly connected to. The motivation behind his work is gaining an understanding and appreciation of these moments in nature.
Matt understands everyone feels differently about the ocean.
“It may be fear of the unknown darkness that lies below, a place you go with friends in summer to cool off from the heat, whatever you feel for it doesn’t matter just along as you appreciate it, as every living thing on this earth needs it.”
For Matt, it feels like home.
“It captivates me and it stores something inside me that can’t be filled by anything else.”
Matt is passionate about showing the beauty of what lies beneath and how fragile it is.
“By displaying moments with marine life that portrays real personality and a connection we can learn to appreciate and understand the importance of coexisting. I want my boy to see what I get to see and to experience everything I have experienced and so much more, not only read about them in books.”
Below are three short stories from Matt. Images are are all shot on a single-breath dive with natural light and a hand-held dive torch.
1. Eight - Western Port Bay, Victoria.
2. Mornington Peninsula, Victoria,.
3. Ocean Chameleons, Whyalla, South Australia.
Eight
It's a frosty Victorian morning. Fog rests in the surrounding valleys as we drive to the dive location. We arrive just as the sun starts to break through to reveal crystal clear South Pacific water and perfect conditions.
We were no more than waist deep when we encountered the first Maori Octopus of the day. It came directly over, reached out its long tentacles and climbed up my flipper in curiosity. I move my camera slowly, trying not to startle it, searching for focus and moving my body from the shadows into the light.
With one click, the noise from my shutter startles him and he moves back towards the weedy bottom. His curiosity hasn’t been lost as he is still on the bottom l
His curiosity hasn’t been lost as he is still on the bottom looking up. I dive down and hold myself flat in the weeds as he looks directly into my lens.
Lost dragon
I am adrift in the cold ocean off Australia's Southern coastline, a location that I love and have dived many times. This is one of the few places in the world where threatened Weedy Sea Dragons can be found.
Masters of disguise, they are completely reliant on camouflage. The Dragons blend with kelp bottoms, illusive yet within plain sight. Perfectly balanced with its small ribbon-like fin dancing along its back, holding position in the ocean current.
Moving freely and unrestricted by its surroundings, I am able to approach without being noticed. The timber pier above provides shelter where they can feed on small crustaceans.
Such vulnerable creatures are at risk from predators, yet human impact stands out as their only real threat. Exquisitely beautiful and mesmerising to watch, the Sea Dragons drift in the currents now, but how much longer will they exist…?
Ocean Chameleons
I am unsure about this dive. The water was teaming with life as the sun set below the horizon. We watch a pod of dolphins swim past and the flash of unknown white water splashes as something tears up the ocean surface.
Knowing thousands of cuttlefish are congregating under the waters, we had to experience them in the black of the night.
As the torch beams hit the ocean floor, everything lit up. Surging with colour, these ocean chameleons flashed with blues, purples and greens as they attempted to mimic their surroundings and impress their potential mates.
Seeing is believing. Watching this Cephalopoda (Cuttlefish) change shape, texture and colour in front of my very eyes, it's mesmerising. This form looking back at me is something I have never seen, so different from what it was only seconds before. Colour-changing, shape-shifting wonders.
Learn about more passionate photographers and artists inspired by the Great Southern Reef.
