Tasmania In The Winter by Katey Shearer

When winter takes over, the swell rises, the water ripples a mess and you pat the dust off your gloves, hood and booties. To some, this is a dread. The water is less inviting and you sit in the car with your heater on, eyes procrastinating on the frosty liquid blues and yearning for the warmer days. To me, winter looks like bigger swell, glorious greeting colours from the sun at dawn and a myriad of pink clouds in the sky at dusk. It looks like laughing at your insanity as you ride the waves and can’t feel your feet. It looks like empty line ups that desire to be ridden. It looks like dancing on your board in heavy rain, and this is exactly how it looked in Tasmania.

Winter is wild, and the wild is what we found in Tasmania. I took my good friend Tommy Castles, a rare 70’s style longboarder from the Surf Coast of Victoria, who I knew would be perfect to capture his grace, and effortlessness on the turbulent Tasmanian waters. We climbed over sand dunes, swam through rivers, lost all feeling in our fingers and toes. Camped beside some of the best waves we’ve ever ridden, all encumbered by nature so beautiful and raw, it holds your heart and you never want to leave.

Every time I venture to Tassie, I find new waves, meet beautiful local people and am always in awe of the untouched, rugged landscapes of which no camera has ever been able to truly capture. I decided on this adventure I would do my utmost to shoot a collection of moments from Tasmania exposed in its purest wintry form, and here is what it looked like.

@kateyshearer