Currumbin in Light
There are places you photograph because you are passing through and there are places you photograph because they become part of who you are.
For me, Currumbin is the latter.
I have lived in Currumbin for many years and over that time I have watched its light, landscape, ocean and community change with the seasons, the tides and the time of day. I have photographed it in the quiet moments before sunrise, in the last light of the afternoon, through storms and cyclones, in the water and along the beach.
After years of photographing around the world, I wanted to turn my cameras closer to home and create something that was more personal.
Currumbin in Light is the result.
A double page photo spread on pages 48 & 49 of my new photography book - Currumbin in Light.
A 30 × 30 cm hardcover coffee-table book, it brings together 176 pages of photographs exploring the many moods and personalities of Currumbin. The ocean, the beaches, the wildlife, the people, the landscape and those unique moments when the light transforms a familiar place into something unexpected.
Light has always been central to the way I photograph. It can change the character of a landscape in seconds. A stretch of ocean can become completely different at dawn compared with late afternoon. Reflections appear and disappear, clouds reshape the sky and familiar places take on another mood.
Currumbin provides an extraordinary canvas for that kind of photography.
Currumbin has a distinctive character: part coastal community and part surf culture, yet also part wildlife sanctuary and a quiet refuge from the increasingly busy world around it. This book captures that special location through scenic photographs taken in beautiful light, exploring the deep connection people share with it.
That combination is what I have tried to capture.
Some of the photographs are dramatic. Others are quiet and contemplative. Some are about movement and energy; others are simply about being in the right place when the light comes together.
Together, they form my personal view of Currumbin.
Find this image on page 52 of my new book Currumbin in Light.
A Book Made With Care. A project like this is never created by a photographer alone.
I have been incredibly fortunate to have the book designed and the words crafted, by the extremely talented Gra Murdoch, a master craftsman of fine-art books. Gra has brought his experience, sensitivity and understanding of photography to the project, helping shape the images and words into a book that I am genuinely proud to put my name to.
The result is intended to be more than a collection of photographs. It is a carefully considered book, something to live with, look through and return to.
I have spent more than four decades photographing oceans, landscapes, people and cultures around the world. My work has taken me to some extraordinary places, but photographing somewhere you call home is a very different experience.
You begin to notice the things that others might pass by.
The way the sunrise lights up the beach, the changing colour of the ocean. Our beloved canine friends relishing their morning walk along the beach. The birds, wildlife and small details that are part of everyday life.
Over time, those moments accumulate.
The Alley, pages 84 & 85 in the book Currumbin in Light.
Currumbin in Light is my attempt to bring some of those moments together in one place, a photographic record of a community and an ocean that, for me, form something of a sanctuary for living.
The book has been printed as a premium hard-cover volume on 157 gsm matt art paper with a matt varnish. I wanted the physical book to complement the photographs, something to sit on a coffee table, pick up and spend time with rather than simply scroll past on a screen.
A Piece Of Currumbin To Take Home
With Christmas approaching, Currumbin in Light makes a very personal gift for someone with an affinity for Currumbin, whether they live here, have grown up here, regularly visit, or simply have a connection with the place.
It will make a beautiful addition to an Airbnb, holiday rental or vacation apartment, giving visitors a visual introduction to the beaches, ocean, wildlife and distinctive character of Currumbin.
It is, in a sense, a little piece of Currumbin to take home.
Inner perspective of Currumbin, a double page spread from Currumbin in Light.
The book is deliberately a very limited edition for $120.
I see Currumbin in Light as both a celebration and a personal document: a celebration of a place I love, and a record of how I have seen it through my lens.
After photographing much of the world, it seems fitting that one of my most personal books should be about home.
BOOK SIGNING
Saturday 7th November 2026
4pm - 7pm
Currumbin Beach General Store (next to The Salt Mill)
784 Pacific Parade, Currumbin, Gold Coast
The Book Signing and Grand Opening of the General Store will be held Saturday 7th November 2026 at 4pm to 7pm. You’re welcome to bring some friends and catch up for a drink. I’ll be personally signing copies of “Currumbin in Light”, available for purchase for yourself or a gift.
Books will be available for purchase @ The Currumbin Beach General Store from the book signing 7th November 2026 until sold out.
“Currumbin in Light” books will be available to order (in Australia) via my website from 29 October 2026 or purchase directly at the Currumbin Beach General Store (next to The Salt Mill), 784 Pacific Parade, Currumbin, Gold Coast (following the book signing on Saturday 7 Nov 2026).
A fine-art photographic tribute to Currumbin, as seen through my lens, from the new book ‘Currumbin in Light’.
