Woman laughing and playing with her hair in the ocean while her partner watches, Sydney, Hafenliebe

BONDI BEACH, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA33°36'00" S, 151°19'22" E · MARCH · LOVERS SESSION

BONDI HEARTS

A beach next to Bondi, and twenty minutes where neither of them remembered the camera was there.

There's a bulldog painted on a wall a few streets back from the water, and Ash and Joel walked past it the way you walk past something you've seen a hundred times, because they had. This wasn't a destination for them. It was Tuesday.

Joel plays music for a living, the kind of work that means leaving for six weeks and coming home to a city that's moved on a little without you. I'm not going to build a metaphor out of that. It's just true, and it's probably part of why the day felt the way it did: two people who know exactly what it costs to be apart, using an ordinary afternoon to be deliberately, unglamorously together.

We started in the lane behind the surf shop, sunglasses on, someone else's surfboard cutting through the frame. Then the cliffs, sandstone that goes orange right before it gives up the light. Then the water, because with these two it was always going to end in the water.

One beach over from Bondi. I've tried to remember which one more than once since, and it never comes back. Does that matter? Not really. What I remember is the exact second they stopped performing for the camera and started actually wrestling in the shallows, laughing at something I never caught. That's usually where the real photographs start.

Wide shot of a couple standing small against the sky on a seaside pier, symmetrical lampposts on either side, Hafenliebe
Couple walking past a large mural in a Sydney back lane, motorcycles parked in the foreground, Hafenliebe

A few blocks in from the water, before any of it started to look like a Sydney postcard.

Couple leaning against a sunlit wall, foreheads close, about to kiss, Hafenliebe
Woman resting her head on a man's shoulder, eyes closed, Hafenliebe
Man leaning against a brick wall, seen through a soft out-of-focus foreground, Hafenliebe
Couple standing forehead to forehead, both wearing sunglasses, wind in their hair, Hafenliebe
Close view of a couple standing close together against a brick wall, Hafenliebe
Man leaning against a wall, partner blurred in the foreground, Hafenliebe
Couple sitting against a graffiti-covered wall, a chainlink fence blurred in the foreground, Hafenliebe
Close-up of two people's hands resting together on a knee, rings and bracelets visible, Hafenliebe
Couple standing on a rock ledge overlooking the Sydney coastline, one arm around the other's shoulder, Hafenliebe
Couple embracing with sandstone cliffs behind them, gazing into the distance, Hafenliebe
Black and white close-up of a woman resting against her partner's shoulder, eyes closed, Hafenliebe
Couple standing close together, soft focus in the foreground, Hafenliebe
Couple embracing at the base of a cliff at dusk, Hafenliebe
Couple about to kiss with the ocean behind them at golden hour, Hafenliebe

By then the light was almost gone, and it didn't matter anymore. They were already in the water.

Couple embracing at the water's edge, backlit by golden hour light, Hafenliebe
Couple playing in shallow ocean water, one hand raised near a laughing face, Hafenliebe
Woman laughing while leaning over her partner, who lies in the wet sand, HafenliebeBlack and white detail of a woman's swimsuit and tattoo, her partner's head resting below in the water, Hafenliebe
Detail of a couple embracing in the ocean from behind, rings visible on wet skin, Hafenliebe
Black and white photo of a couple kissing, water running down the woman's back, Hafenliebe
Couple in an unusual embrace in shallow water, shown in black and white, Hafenliebe
Couple sitting together in shallow water with the coastline behind them, Hafenliebe
Couple kissing at the water's edge, water running down the woman's back, Hafenliebe
Detail of a hand resting on a partner's shoulder from behind, ring and bracelet visible, Hafenliebe
Couple sitting in the ocean water, laughing together, Hafenliebe
Woman laughing and playing with her hair while her partner watches, Hafenliebe

Last thing before we called it a day: two portraits, taken maybe ten seconds apart.

Black and white portrait of a woman looking directly at the camera, hair blowing across her face, HafenliebeMan looking directly at the camera, ocean water behind him, Hafenliebe

Ash and Joel are still together, as far as I know. Joel's probably on a plane somewhere. That feels like the right way to leave this one.

Ash and Joel's photoshoot happened on a beach one suburb over from Bondi, Sydney, in March 2016. No posed formals, no forced looks at the camera. Just two people who know each other well enough to stop noticing the lens. This is what a documentary-style couple photoshoot actually looks like when it works: less performance, more the two of you being exactly who you are when nobody's watching. Hafenliebe shoots couple photoshoots and elopements across Europe, and occasionally wherever the story actually is.

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