Not every project starts with a brief. This one started with a relationship. Alec had worked with Matt Bagley professionally on client projects and recognised in him exactly the kind of subject The Tropics exists to document — a person with a genuine obsession, a particular way of seeing the world, and a story worth telling properly.
The objective was simple: follow Matt through the making of his latest collection, Discover the Unseen, and capture his process as authentically as possible. No script. No art direction. Just a director who understood the subject well enough to stay out of the way until the right moment.
“The Story of Matt Bagley” — a behind-the-scenes portrait of a fine art ocean photographer at work on a collection that explores the impact of human consumption on our oceans. Matt’s work captures the beauty of nature reclaiming discarded ocean debris — the ocean’s quiet, unhurried response to what we leave behind.
The location was San Remo, a small coastal fishing town in southeast Victoria. The San Remo Jetty is a place Matt knows deeply — he and his family have spent much of their lives there. His son Leo was by his side for the day. Every fisherman they passed on the pier knew Matt’s name and asked after his father.
That sense of belonging, of deep personal connection to a place, is exactly the kind of thing that can’t be manufactured — and exactly the kind of thing that makes a film feel true.
The shoot ran from daylight through to a night shoot in the ocean — a 30-minute window between tides, in dark water, with stingrays and seals somewhere in the vicinity. Matt built his set in the ocean, wrapping a black backdrop and rigging his discovery from below. Alec was there for all of it.
What Did The Tropics Bring to It?
The film is a portrait as much as a documentary — and portraits only work when the subject trusts the person behind the camera. That trust existed before a frame was shot, built across previous professional collaborations between Alec and Matt.
Alec directed, produced and composed the original soundtrack — a rare combination that gave the film a completely coherent creative voice from first frame to last note. The music was written specifically for this production, exploring minor and major chords to mirror the film’s emotional landscape: the breathtaking beauty of the ocean set against the sadness at the heart of Matt’s subject matter. Bittersweet, unhurried, and exactly right.
The night shoot — in the ocean, in the dark, with a 30-minute tidal window — required the kind of calm, adaptable production approach that comes from experience. There was no room for hesitation and no second chance. Alec was in the water alongside Matt, finding the frames while Matt built his set.
KEY OUTPUTS
- 1 × short documentary film — “The Story of Matt Bagley”
- Original soundtrack composed by Alec McCloskey
- Hosted on thetropics.com.au as part of The Tropics’ own stories series
Key Challenges
A night shoot in the ocean with a 30-minute tidal window — everything had to be set up, shot and wrapped within that time, in dark water, with no opportunity to go again.
Capturing an artist’s process authentically without disturbing it — staying present enough to find the frames without becoming part of the story or disrupting the creative flow Matt needed to do his work.
Composing an original soundtrack that could hold the film’s emotional complexity — the beauty and the sadness existing simultaneously without one overpowering the other.
Working across a full day and night shoot as a minimal crew in a coastal environment — physically demanding, unpredictable, and exactly the kind of challenge The Tropics is built for.
Was AI Used?
No. This was traditional filmmaking in every sense — a director, a subject, a location, and a story worth telling. The soundtrack was composed by hand by Alec McCloskey.
"It was great to see Alec embrace the unfamiliar ocean environment, always up for a challenge."
"There's a big difference between working with somebody and having somebody work for you. One of the key things that stands out when working with Alec is that he is not just doing his job; he is fully emotionally invested in what he is working on, no matter the subject. You are always working with him. I value his advice not only on the best way to capture the moment but also on how to improve it, how the story can grow, and what we can do to make it better."
"There are many people out there who just point and shoot. They have great technological ability, and you can give them very clear direction to capture exactly what you want. However, there is also a special type of person who can truly think outside the box, think ahead, adapt, evolve, and push you and the project to be better. The project becomes more than yours, and so does the vision. When you work with people like Alec, he brings out the best in you and the entire team. That's what makes it special; that's what a true storyteller is."
"You feel his obsession and his aim for the ever-elusive quest for perfection. He has true tunnel vision when he is working, sometimes to his detriment, as my 8-year-old son Leo said, 'That guy would just not stop taking my photo.' This is not the first and will not be the last project we do together."
— Matt Bagley, Fine Art Ocean Photographer, Melbourne