Christmas inscription from the previous owner on the title page.
 
Trent Parke and Narelle Autio, who later became his wife, were chosen to document life on Australian beaches in early 1999, during one of the country's worst summers for drownings. Their two-year project spanned beaches from Sydney's Bondi to Freshwater and Manly, north to Bogie Hole in Newcastle, Port Macquarie and Byron Bay. Their underwater photographs portrayed an Australian pastime while capturing something of national identity and a broader, universal relationship between humanity and wild nature.
“The ocean symbolises the ultimate universal energy, something that gives and takes life,” says Autio. “It can be peaceful and calm or violent and unpredictable. Despite the dangers and inevitable loss of life, the sea remains irresistible to millions. We wanted to show this symbiosis between humanity and the ocean, and our apparent continuing need to return to the water.”