About the Artist - Ana Koch

SALA 2025 - Seafaring Fools Exhibition

The sea for me has always represented fear of the water. But as a street photographer, I wanted to document that moment when people met the water by choice. I wanted to capture the reactions of those who leaped into their fears and anxieties and met the water as they were. The ocean is a great equaliser. It is both what brings us together and sets us apart. My photography work is also an effort to push myself beyond my comfort zone. I had to be fully focussed, navigating flippers, snorkel, a heavy case, manual focus, aperture, shutter speed and then timing my dive at the same time as the jumpers. This work mirrored the difficulty I was facing in my life at the time and still am, and how it can feel like you’re being sucked in, pushed down and also diving in at the same time. I would say this is the work that I created when I was pushed to the edge, and jumped in.

I started the summer wanting to create portraits of people underwater in an homage to my inspiration, Narelle Autio, the incredibly talented South Australian photographer who pioneered jetty jumping and underwater photography. The underwater photographs I took in the early part of summer at the beginning of January 2025 were clear. However, as I took to the water in February and March, the visibility kept on getting worse, and I could no longer see anything underwater. I decided to switch my approach and focus on taking a unique perspective of the people from the surface of the water.

The sea reflected who we were, how we faced our fears and also defied the odds to jump in and feel powerful in the moment between the leaving of the Jetty and the meeting of the sea. As I bobbed in the water, taking rests on the ladder under the jetty between the climbers, I got lost in the flow of jumping, climbing and the cycle repeating itself. I noticed how the ladder grounded all of these moments.

SALA 2025 - Above and Below

Above and Below is a collaboration of a birds eye view and an underwater perspective of the swell and coastlines of SA. Awarding winning landscape photographer, qualified CASA remote pilot and Adelaide Hills resident, Stuart Templeton inspires with his unique artwork inspired by Australia's country, coast and ocean. Ana Koch, a street photographer on both on land and our interactions with the ocean and the build environment around our coastlines, provides a glimpse of our vulnerability under water as we leap off Adelaide's iconic Glenelg Jetty.

SALA 2024 - Somerton Scenes

wanted this series to reflect my own appreciation for my new home in Adelaide. Moving to the beach will always feel surreal, having been born in Philippines, and growing up in the western suburbs of Sydney. As a Filipino from the land of 1,000 islands, I have always felt connected to the ocean. As an Aussie, I have always loved how authentic we are at the beach. We bring ourselves to the water in a way we don’t see in other parts of the world. I wanted to showcase only photos shot on film as part of this exhibition, to reflect that authenticity and to celebrate the raw of who we are when we meet the ocean.

In my first Sala exhibition, I have taken the leap too into the vulnerability of showing you how I see summer in Somerton Park. I recognise that many people may not have that opportunity, so I have also partnered with Youth Opportunities as part of this exhibition to also highlight the importance of accessibility of opportunity, particularly for young people.