Mick Fanning is calm, genuine, and deeply present. As the day unfolded, the sky darkened, a chosen aesthetic at the time, allowing subjects to be illuminated by light.

"Perspective, angles, lines, and spatial ratios are a constant consideration when I position my subjects. Although this happens mostly in my subconscious, it all adds value to the final delivery of the subject’s emotional state to the viewer. I enhance this emotional content by featuring supporting landscapes and reducing distracting elements. If I can take myself out of the equation and leave the raw emotional connection between people viewing my images and the subject, then I have been successful."
- Andrew Maccoll

A year later, Sarah Engledow, Curator of the National Portrait Gallery in Canberra, reached out with an unexpected call. “The Mick,” as we had come to call the portrait, was to be acquired into the gallery’s permanent collection. A humbling and proud moment.

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