For the last seven years Ray Collins has straddled two ends of the civic spectrum. Three days a week he'd don the King Gee workwear, clock on and descend deep into the Illawarra escarpment. His work team would haul buckets of coal to the surface while wiping black grime from exposed skin. It was dirty, gruelling work.

Then every other day he'd be alone in the clear ocean, camera in hand decoding the interplay of light and shadow in his own particular way. During those days above ground Ray became an accomplished surf photographer, scored numerous magazine covers, forged his own style, and made a name for himself in the incredibly competitive world of surf photography.

Ray lives in Thirroul on the NSW South Coast. Grew up there. And his story closely parallels the recent history of the region. The coal mines made the town staunchly blue collar, yet the mines are closing so the area is no longer defined by the industry in the hills behind. It may still be called the Coal Coast but other influences are taking root, new opportunities arising.

This conversation took place at a local cafe two days before Ray flew to Europe.

Swellnet: Before we get into it, I heard you got rolled the other day while shooting. What happened?
Ray Collins: Yeah, um...what happened?

Your face is switching between a smile and a grimace Ray.
Well it's funny looking back at it now. I just got too close to the wave. Normally you can sit very close to the reef...

Which reef were you shooting?
It was ahhh...somewhere in NSW.

Uh-huh...
Yeah, it just smashed me. There was another guy shooting it so I kinda wanted to get a little spot in front of them and a clean up set came through real wide. I tried to get under it but I just felt myself go weightless backwards inside of it. And then....woooh.

What was the result?
Scratches on my hands, feet, and head.

Did your camera survive?
Yeah scratches on the housing but just cosmetic. It was a pretty bad beating. The worst I've had in ages. Years even.

Did you go in afterwards?
I did. It washed me that far in anyway. It was a sign I guess.

You were a coal miner before becoming a photographer, how many years did you spend going down the mine?
About ten years, but I discovered photography through coal mining.

How so?
Well I hurt myself underground. I hurt my knee really badly. That led me to the camera because I couldn’t walk for a few months and needed something to do. So I read a camera manual.

You must've been bored.
I had a lot of time on my hands. I couldn’t drive or walk or anything.

Did you read the whole manual?
Yep, heaps of times. The same manual.

If someone tells me they've read a technical manual from start to finish, I figure they're either a bit peculiar or incredibly meticulous. Are you either of these things?
No, not really. I usually just pick up things as I go. I honestly don’t know why I was so determined with photography.

When did this all happen Ray?
2007. Seven years ago.

You've come a long way in that time.
Nah, still in Thirroul.

But you've achieved a lot in that time, so much so you've downed tools and left the mines. When did that happen?
A couple of months ago. It's been great ever since.

So you're working full time as a photographer now. Is this a goal you've had planned for a while?
No, not at all. It's just kind of fallen in my lap. I've done nothing more than gone with the flow and this is where I'm at right now. Since I stopped working in the mines I've been overseas 4 or 5 times and I'm going to Europe the day after tomorrow for a month, and then I've been offered a gig with The Perfect Wave. So I should be going to the Maldives for a month the day after I get back from Europe.

Who sent you overseas?
Riptide to a spot in Java. I went to NZ for a wetsuit company - Zion wetsuits. And I went to shoot a boat in the Mentawais. Not really a lot of mag stuff but just straight photography, in the water, which is cool.

You've never really struck me as a surf industry guy. Is that because you were working part time?
Perhaps, but I never really chased it. I didn't really have a good crew of surfers...at least the guys the mags wanted to shoot. I know Dylan Longbottom, Predator [Eddie Blackwell], tube riding guys from around home, and by association I'd meet other guys and little relationships would grow from there. Say with Dom Wills or Mark Mathews.

You've just mentioned a few name surfers and yet you're more known for shooting empty waves.
That's my passion for sure.

I assume that was also because there weren’t good surfers around home?
No, I think I'm simply drawn to empty waves. Even the waves I've shot with surfers in them the wave is the focal point and the surfer just gives it scale. I was looking through some photos from my first season in Hawaii and without realising it I was shooting a lot of empty waves. I guess its grown from there, maybe subconsciously for a few years but definitely something I've focussed on the last three or four years. So even if I was surrounded by great surfers I'd still look to shoot waves without surfers on them.

I'd like to ask you a question about social media. A couple of years ago on Facebook you had a bit of a following, created a bit of fervour with your shots. Facebook, it seemed, served you well.
Yeah, it did.

But as you'd know Facebook has changed, they've ratcheted down everyone's reach unless you fork over coin. As a professional photographer how do you use Facebook these days?
I kind of don't use Facebook with the intent of reaching everyone. It's extortion in a way, but that's their terms and conditions, you have to be alright with it.

Are you using anything else to fill its place?
Probably Instagram, that's a really good tool for now, but that's also gonna change because they're not making money on it. They [Facebook] bought it for a billion dollars and they haven’t seen a return on their investment yet. They've obviously got something in the works.

You consolidated your reputation through social media, what would you say to young photographers just getting started? What advice would you give them to reach a larger crowd?
First of all: what is your motivation? Is it to get likes and fans...or are you passionate about creating good images? If you're passionate then work on your craft and work on your style and all those things – the likes and the fans – will fall into place. Does that answer your question Stu?

Yeah, well none of us have got a definitive answer anyway. We question social media regularly because for a while it was an integral part of our business and now it isn't. We're certainly not going to pay the money to Facebook but we continually watch and wonder where social media is heading and who, if anyone, is benefitting.
You've got to talk to Eugene Tan [Aquabumps].

Why?
He was social media before social media. He had the email list to send out to people each morning, so if every social media platform were to fall over he's still going to reach x amount of people because he's got their contacts.

Well people come to see the surf report and cameras on Swellnet everyday so we don’t have too much to worry about there, but nevertheless Facebook did occupy a certain position and now it doesn't so I'm curious how other people, young photographers in particular, can maximise the use of social media.
I don't know, I think that no matter how advertising or marketing goes in the future some things will never change. The work that is clearly better than the rest will rise to the top no matter what platform it appears on.

So who are the guys at the top? Who do you look up to?
Guys like Ted Grambeau, Jon Frank, and younger guys such as Trent Mitchell. Purists really.

Are you saying that because they shot before digital?
Well those three guys I mentioned, they wouldn't even have many online followers, you know. Maybe they're purists in the fact that that's not their motivation. Even for me, I'll look at some photos and say “its not that good so I'll put it on Instagram." I don't imagine they’d do that. There's no right or wrong but that's how those guys are.

Principles aside you like their work also?
Yeah, yeah, they all understand the complexities of light and they interpret it differently to anyone else. I can look at any of their shots and say so and so shot that, or Ted Grambeau shot that photo.

You can tell?
For sure. Definitely. Can you tell Jon Frank's stuff?

Yeah with Jon I can, but not Ted or Trent. Although in the same vein when you put a shot up I know it's yours before seeing the credit.
What about Chris Burkard, can you recognise his shots?

If there's a big snowy mountain in the background I know it's Burkard's.
And Morgan Maassen. All those guys have their own style.

Most of those guys also have their own books, you mentioned you've got one coming. When is your book due?
It should clear customs in late November.

Perfect timing.
Yep. It's 190 pages and Nikon is helping me with the marketing and promotion of it.

What’s it called?
It's called 'Found At Sea'. We've been throwing around so many different titles, we had 'Ephemera', and 'Galax-sea', but we've settled with 'Found At Sea'.

For what it's worth I think thats better than the two you just mentioned.
Thanks.

To see more of Ray's work visit his website.
Swellnet is curently running a gallery of Ray's 10 best photos - click to view.