Surf photographer Ted Grambeau teamed up
with Tim Baker, a surf writer to create this beautiful and unique children's
book, The Surfer and the Mermaid.
It's a tale about a surfer, a mermaid and being kind to the ocean. The story was inspired by a series of
images. Ted Grambeau shot them and Tim Baker realised their
potential. Thank god for Tim because if it wasn't for him we wouldn't
have the Surfer & the Mermaid and the world would never have seen Ted's unbelievable images.
The real surfer featured in these
photographs is David Rastovich (Rasta) a famous free surfer. The mermaid
was his girlfriend at the time, Hannah Fraser Rastovich. Hannah is a professional mermaid model who travels around the
world being photographed and filmed in costume, as a mermaid. The pair
were in Tonga shooting a documentary intended to inspire people to protect the
ocean and its inhabitants. The documentary, MINDS
IN THE WATER, took around
five years to complete. Throughout the doco, you basically follow Dave on
a massive journey around the globe while he attempts to raise awareness about
the ocean and its need for protection. Within the five years he managed
to cover Australia, the Galapagos, Tonga, California, Alaska and Japan.
It was in Tonga that Ted Grambeau was asked to fly over and shoot Rasta
swimming with the whales, for promotional purposes. Little did he know,
this would be the start of a completely separate creation. One that would
spread Rasta's message even further but this time, to the minds of the young..
Not only did Tim Baker turn these images
into a storybook for children but he also turned them into a stage play.
He said that as soon as he saw the photographs, he felt inspired and knew that
they had the potential to tell an amazing story. Once he was given
permission to write the book, Tim created a method that helped him to
inspire his imagination and bring the story to life. Tim's method was to
sort through all of the photographs, picking the ones he felt would work for
his story before compiling them into a storyboard. At that point, he went
through each image, examining it, whilst allowing his imagination to run
wild. I guess it's a matter of looking at a series of images, kicking
back and saying, "inspire me, please". What a brilliant method
of achieving creative inspiration and what a beautiful story that unraveled
because of it. 
'Bleach Surfing The Fringe - Surf, Art and Music Festival' launched this year on the Gold Coast. Tim was asked to adapt the Surfer and the Mermaid, turning it into a kids stage show that would be presented as part of the festival. He did this brilliantly and turned it into a complete success. It was a one man show and Luke Townson (my son's dad) played the surfer who narrated and acted out this beautiful & unique production. I was pretty proud, I must say.. I think the most important and inspiring element about this story is the message within it, to protect our waters and be kind to the ocean and it's inhabitants. Both the book and the stage show of 'The Surfer and the Mermaid' were in a sense a mechanism, or a tool, used to spread that message to the young without having to preach it or forcefully present it. The story is creative and engaging, exactly what our children need to hold their attention and inspire them in a way that will stay with them through to adulthood.
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