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father's day with eugene tan
eugene tan, or uge, is a long-time friend of bassike, who turned his passion for the ocean and photography into the job of his dreams. The father of two and founder of aquabumps – the bondi gallery and thriving digital platform that all started as an image-a-day email to a close circle of friends – has found himself in one place for longer than ever before, with a little more time to spend with family and explore his own backyard.
as we all prepare to celebrate father’s day a little differently this year, we caught up with uge to discuss how his creative process has evolved and what fatherhood means to him.
what are youR kids' names and how old are they?
jet wolfgang tan is nine years old. and spike ziggy tan is six.
what creative projects have been keeping you busy?
i’ve actually spent the past few months re-discovering sydney; shooting for destination nsw and our aquabumps gallery in bondi. it’s been so nice to spend some time here over winter, as we’re usually travelling. we travel a lot. i’ve been all over greater sydney and the harbour beaches, by boat, chopper and foot. i’ve really enjoyed it, the family too. how lucky are we to live here in sydney.
when we were in lock down, i spent some time shooting at night – a new for me, as i’m a sunrise photographer. i used a pixel stick and in the dead of night we shot some photos on the beach, with no one around. it was very different for me and fun to get creative with my family.
2020 has been an unusual year for a lot of people – how are you staying positive and inspired? has there been much of a change in the way you work and live?
i’ve been shooting at sunrise for 21 years and when we were in lock down, i didn’t shoot at all for 8 weeks. the beaches were closed and we were told to stay home, so i respected that with my family. i still sent the daily @aquabumps blog monday – friday to our global following of 330,000 people, to keep those who couldn’t go to the beach inspired. instead of being shot that day, the images were from my archives that i’d never really had the time to sift through. it made me grateful for the many places i’ve been and experienced. it also made me realise how much i love what i do and the ritual of watching the sunrise and the ocean in first light. it’s definitely how i stay positive and inspired on a daily basis, that and surfing. we all surf, so being in the ocean with my family makes us all pretty happy.
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we travel a lot. i’ve been all over greater sydney and the harbour beaches, by boat, chopper and foot.
i’ve really enjoyed it, the family too. how lucky are we to live here in sydney.
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who's your favourite on-screen father from a film or series? why?
christopher gardner in ‘the pursuit of happyness’, played by will smith alongside his son jaden. why? because you gotta dream. people will always tell you, you can’t do it. if you want something. go get it!
what’s your favourite thing about fatherhood?
watching our boys experience things for the first time. how the simplest of things are the greatest things in the world to them. teaching them to love and respect the ocean like i do and seeing them get joy from surfing and skateboarding, like i did as a kid.
what is the best piece of advice you ever received from your father?
my father is a very calm man, i never saw him get rattled or upset with us. so, i try to be the same kind of father to my boys – centred and calm and fun.
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it’s definitely how i stay positive and inspired on a daily basis, that and surfing. we all surf, so being in the ocean with my family makes us all pretty happy.
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eugene and debbie's edit.
jet and spike's edit.
eugene and the tan family photographed at home by debbie tan.
follow eugene on instagram @aquabumps
the aquabumps gallery is located at 151 curlewis street in bondi and open to the public daily.