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about the book
  • An international celebrity, a national icon, a tourist haven or simply home. Bondi means different things to different people. In Bondi Republic photographer Ali Nasseri gives us a peek at the
  • free-spirited, larger-than-life Sydney suburb that lies behind the designer shades and ripped abs. Gaze into the true heart of Bondi, where it's kinda edgy, sorta irreverent and a little bit up itself.

Great, just what we need, another photography book about Bondi Beach. Are you serious? Don't you know it's one of the world's most photographed stretches of sand? So what makes Bondi Republic so special?

For one thing, this book goes beyond the sand. It takes a unique look at Bondi's beach culture but also gazes behind the designer sunnies and sculpted torsos, into the Bondi neighbourhood. Sydney photographer Ali Nasseri puts you right in the thick of things. Not as an observer or outsider, but part of the action. You're in on it, caught up in the drama and excitement. His photos will make you not just see but feel Bondi.

Second, Bondi Republic freeze-frames a moment in time. Icons like Bondi Icebergs, bronzed lifeguards, skimpy bikinis and the local Jewish community never seem to change. But this snapshot helps us appreciate their authenticity even more. And it is only a snapshot. Part of Bondi's charm is that it's culturally rich, always evolving and impossible to tie down. Without getting too misty-eyed, Bondi Republic allows us to celebrate the suburb's ethereal creative side. The intangibles you can't buy, sell or bottle. The unique things that could disappear in the blink of a developer's eye.

Last, Bondi Republic is a rogue state. This is not the sanitised primetime resort where everyone wants to be rescued. No lifeguards with wedgies or vets with Chesty Bonds chins. This is the free-spirited, tolerant, crazy Bondi that somehow manages to be both time capsule and locus of the zeitgeist. Make no mistake—it's still larger than life, exuberant, saturated in local colour and heaving with the spirit of counterculture. It's kinda edgy, sorta irreverent and a little bit up itself.


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