DAO

DAO (道) is the foundational concept in Daoism, where 道 means “the Way”; in this series, it refers specifically to the Way of Water, the principle that water adapts, endures, and always finds its path.

Water reshapes itself and always finds a way forward.


This series follows that principle through the ocean:

How water moves with force or restraint, how it changes direction when needed, how it shapes everything it touches, and how its behaviour mirrors our own.

I photograph the ocean around the world and create mini-series with people and places who recognise themselves in this idea.

Each series expresses the same core qualities: resilience, adaptation, and the instinct to move forward in whatever form the moment requires.

DAO is not about documenting the ocean. It is about seeing ourselves in it, and allowing each partner to define what their own Way looks like.

Liza Angèle at work, photographing water, wildlife, and the people who live close to them.

XALA (Mexico) - RENEWAL

DAO here was renewal, turtles released back into open water, instinctively finding their direction

NIHI (Sumba, Indonesia) - FREEDOM

DAO showed up in force and freedom, wild horses running along the tide line.

LEGENDARY EXPEDITIONS(Tanzania) - SYNCHRONICITY

DAO here was about collective movement, flamingos moving as one, following the same path across shallow water.

Baines River Camp (Zambia) - STILLNESS

DAO showed itself in stillness, the Zambezi’s slow power, and the exact way crocodiles navigate it.

Saint Regis Cruise (Mediterranean)- CONSISTENCY

DAO in the Mediterranean was consistency, referencing the steady blue horizons and uninterrupted calm of the seain summer during the St. Regis voyage.

The Legian + Tugu Hotel (Bali, Indonesia) - BALANCE

DAO here was balance, the way the coastline, light, and daily rhythm shaped the work I created.

FIELDWORK Hawaï - FORCE

**Work created in multiple locations in Hawai

DAO in Hawaï represents Force, referencing the raw power of Hawaii’s waves, where the ocean moves with intensity, impact, and absolute presence.

FIELDWORK BAJA - MAJESTY

**Work created in multiple locations in Baja

DAO represents Majesty, referencing the sheer presence and grandeur of the whales in Baja California Sur.

FIELDWORK VIETNAM - HARMONY

**Work created in multiple locations in Vietnam

DAO in Vietnam was in harmony, referencing the aligned rhythm of Vietnam’s fishermen and salt-workers, whose daily movements follow the cycles of water, tide, and light.

Auction for Richard Gere’s foundation Ridge to Reef at Xala (Mexico)

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

— Mark Twain, The Innocents Abroad —

How many changes of perspective are needed, and how many different views, if one is to see each thing clearly?
Posōn metabolōn dei, kai posas ideas echein, hina saphōs hekaston katanoēthē?


— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations VII.7 —

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