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Quick answer: Will and Wind works with Australian nature photographers including award-winning marine photographer Brooke Pyke and co-founder Chris Burnham. Their work captures whale sharks at Ningaloo, humpback whales off the Queensland coast and reef systems across northern Australia. Every Will and Wind design is based on original photography, not stock images. |
The Will and Wind product range exists because of Australian nature photographers who were already doing exceptional work in the field before any of this became a towel. The brand did not commission a design agency to make ocean-themed products. It started with a photographer, a collection of images taken in conditions most people never experience and a decision to put those images somewhere they would actually be used.
Here is who is behind the camera and what they are documenting.
Chris Burnham: Co-Founder and Photographer
Chris Burnham co-founded Will and Wind in Queensland in 2018 with Phoebe Burnham. Before starting the brand, Chris had been working as a photographer with a specific focus on Australian marine and coastal environments. The photography archive that became the basis for the Will and Wind design library was built over years of fieldwork, not assembled for a product launch.
Chris's work as one of the founding Australian nature photographers behind the brand is visible across the range. The decision to build a towel brand around original photography came directly from the belief that the images were too good to live only in an archive and too specific to the environments being photographed to be represented by stock alternatives.
Brooke Pyke: Award-Winning Marine Photographer
Brooke Pyke is one of Australia's most recognised underwater and marine nature photographers. Her work has been published internationally and she has spent significant time in the field at locations including Ningaloo Reef, the Queensland coast and throughout the Indo-Pacific.
Her most significant work in the Will and Wind range came from a free dive at Ningaloo when a bottlenose dolphin mother and calf approached her in open water. The resulting photographs became the basis for what is now one of the most popular designs in the collection. The story of that encounter is told in full at the mother and calf blog.
Brooke also produced the Yin Yang Leopard Shark design through sustained fieldwork at Ningaloo across multiple seasons. Getting two sharks simultaneously in a composition that works at product scale requires both technical skill and the patience to keep showing up in the right conditions until the image presents itself.
Why Australian Nature Photographers Specifically
Photographers based in Australia and working in Australian marine environments bring specific knowledge to the work that photographers elsewhere cannot. The behaviour of humpback whales on the Queensland migration corridor, the conditions at Ningaloo in whale shark season, the reef systems of the Coral Sea. These are not generic ocean photographs. They are documents of specific places and specific encounters that require physical presence over extended periods.
The locations covered by the Will and Wind photography are among the most significant marine environments in the world. The iconic Australian beaches blog covers the specific coastal and marine locations that appear across the range and why each one was chosen.
The Conservation Connection
The Australian nature photographers Will and Wind works with are not neutral observers of the marine environments they document. Both Chris Burnham and Brooke Pyke are invested in the protection of the places and species they photograph. This is why the Will and Wind partnership with the Australian Marine Conservation Society exists. A portion of sales from select products goes to AMCS to support the work protecting exactly these environments.
Full detail on that partnership at the marine conservation blog.
Seeing the Photography in the Products
The full range of designs from the Australian nature photographers who work with Will and Wind is at the travel towel collection. The same photography appears across beach mats, gym towels and car seat towels. For the full background on each photographer and the stories behind specific designs, the Our Photographers page is the best starting point.
FAQs
Who are the photographers behind Will and Wind's towel designs?
The primary photographers are co-founder Chris Burnham and award-winning Australian marine photographer Brooke Pyke. Full profiles are on the Our Photographers page.
Is the photography on Will and Wind towels original?
Yes. Every design is based on original photography taken by Chris Burnham or Brooke Pyke in Australian marine environments. None are stock images or computer-generated illustrations.
What locations does the photography come from?
Primarily Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, the Queensland coastline including the humpback whale migration corridor and reef systems of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea.
How can I find out more about the photographers?
The Our Photographers page has full profiles, the stories behind key designs and how the photography connects to Will and Wind's conservation work.
Shop Travel Towels | Our Photographers | Marine Conservation