This photograph was conceived along the Coromandel coastline, just beyond Castle Island, during an open-water encounter with an 11-foot female mako.
Working in clear water with a known, highly aware apex predator required both composure and intent. As she moved between myself and shark scientist Riley Elliott - an unmistakable display of presence and control - I anticipated her line and positioned accordingly, aligning the frame with the island’s silhouette to the northwest.
The image was built around contrast: the stillness of an idyllic horizon set against the quiet tension of what lies just beneath the surface. The fin, cutting cleanly through the waterline, becomes both subject and threshold; an invitation and a boundary.
Paradise Awaits reflects that duality. The promise of untouched beauty, and the understanding that to reach it, you must first pass through something wild.
Amber Jones is a photographer and visual advocate whose work navigates the raw energy of the sea and the quiet intimacy of life beneath the surface. Her practice is rooted in a deep reverence for the intuitive rhythm of the underwater world and a physical discipline developed over years of immersion. From her early days shooting surfers in Kona, Hawaii, to the underwater landscapes of the Alderman Islands, her work functions as an animist offering to the marine life of Aotearoa.
Size: 80x60 cm
Material: Photographic Fuji Print with matte laminate, mounted in white floating frame.
Print edition: Limited edition no 2 of 15
