The latest body of work from fine art aerial photographer Brad Walls, who goes by the moniker Bradscanvas, is Water Geomaids. The series invites viewers to experience the beauty of synchronised swimming. The timing of this work coincides the 2021 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Walls became fascinated with the subject and was keen to capture sportspeople and swimming pools, surprised by how little professional imagery focused on synchronised swimming. “I was surprised at the lack of imagery capturing the shapes and patterns that synchronized swimmers create,” he states.
Walls teamed up with a Sydney-based synchronised swimming team choreographed by Katrina Ann, a former competitor who has competed at the Commonwealth Games and in multiple World Championships. “Artistic swimmers spend hours every day working to achieve perfection. With Brad’s eye for detail, perspective, and creativity, we were able to showcase our hard work that is often lost to the naked eye,” she says.
Walls began pinning ideas that were composed of many artistic sports – not just synchronised swimming – and this inspired him to draw out the geometric shapes he wanted to form on paper and create in the pool. Using the drawings as starting point, Walls and Ann collaborated to bring the drawings to life. Walls says the aim was to cherry-pick static positions from routines that build repetition of form and geometric sequences.
Typically, Walls plans 80% of the images he intends to capture, with the 20% remaining for those serendipitous moments. “No matter the amount of planning that goes into it, there will always be an unplanned frame that looks awesome and couldn't possibly have been planned,” he says. “That is the embodiment of art.”
Walls was a finalist in the 2021 Sony World Photography Awards in two categories, placed second in the 2021 Fine Art Photography Awards Conceptual category, and won the For Sale category of the 2021 Communication Arts photography competition.
About Brad Walls
Sydney-based Brad Walls was born in 1992. Despite studying Science, his preferred artistic medium is aerial photography. From 2019, he has been refining his style garnering international acclaim, setting new precedents in photographic expression. Defining a new era of aerial photography and the recipient of several prestigious awards, he has been featured in The Washington Post, Guardian, CNN, and numerous other publications around the world. His work has also appeared on the cover of Signature Luxury Travel and as well as being featured in Aesthetica Magazine. Walls’ niche style removes itself from traditional aerial photography and focuses on experimentation with negative space, symmetry, and leading lines.
See more of Brad Walls' work on his website and on Instagram.
Get more stories like this delivered
free to your inbox. Sign up here.