South West WA Wall Art
The sand at Lucky Bay is among the whitest in the country, and against it the water reads as a colour most Australian coastlines never produce. Eight prints from the south coast and south west, and the coolest palette in the Western Australian catalogue.
The other half of Western Australia
Anyone arriving at this collection from the Kimberley pages will find almost nothing in common. The north is warm, textured sandstone under hard light. The south west is granite, white quartz sand and cold water, and it photographs clean rather than dense.
Cape Le Grand and Esperance
Lucky Bay, WA and Sand Dunes, Lucky Bay, WA cover the bay that the region is best known for. Sapphire Sea Cape Le Grand National Park, WA and Cape Le Grand National Park, WA take the wider park, where granite domes come down to the beach. The colour in these images is a function of the sand rather than the sky, because quartz sand reflects light back up through shallow water.
Rock formations
Canal Rocks, WA photographs the granite outcrop near Yallingup where the swell runs through a channel in the rock. Lunar Landscape Pinnacles, WA is the outlier of the group, limestone spires in the Nambung sand rather than coastline, and the only genuinely arid image in the set.
North of Perth and offshore
Sunrise Red Bluff Beach, WA sits on the mid west coast, and Rottnest Island, WA is the vertical image in the collection, taken on the island off Fremantle.
Where these hang well
This is the easiest group in the Western Australian catalogue to place. Cool blues and whites, low contrast, and no strong warm tones to conflict with an existing scheme. They hold their colour at smaller sizes better than the Kimberley images do, because the effect comes from hue rather than from surface detail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is the water that colour at Lucky Bay?
The sand. Quartz sand reflects light back up through shallow water, which lifts the blue in a way darker sand does not. Lucky Bay, WA and Sapphire Sea Cape Le Grand National Park, WA both show the effect at its strongest.
How is this different to the Kimberley collection?
Completely different palette. The Kimberley is warm sandstone, ochre and heavy texture. The south west is granite, white sand and cold blue water with much lower contrast. They are best treated as two separate collections rather than one state.
Do the smaller sizes still work for these images?
Better than most. The effect in these photographs comes from colour rather than fine surface detail, so they hold up at smaller print sizes where a highly textured image would lose its impact.
Is the Pinnacles image part of the coastal group?
Not really. Lunar Landscape Pinnacles, WA is limestone formations in the Nambung sand north of Perth and is the only arid image in this collection. It sits closer to the outback work than to the south coast beaches.