Conversations with Ivana Bajic

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ivana Bajic.

Hi Ivana, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I am very passionate about extreme adventures – skydiving, diving with sharks, climbing the first base of Mont Everest… In 2015, my husband and I went to Costa Rica to learn to surf; it was the most epic journey we could ever imagine. Surfing, the jungle lifestyle, and the incredible community of women surfers made Nosara my sanctuary. Surfing gave me a new dimension of mindfulness and self-esteem that I needed as a businesswoman and a mother.

Career-wise, I am a multimedia producer, working on projects for film studios and artists like Jeff Koons and Marina Abramovic.

Since I got hooked on surfing, I wanted to create a project that will show the main values that surfing brings to people (no matter what level you are!) – purpose, passion and creativity.

There are immense benefits of surfing for women, especially: the time in nature, the factor of play, the workout, bonding with family or friends…

One day, while I was chilling in the lineup, it came to me: I will make an interactive book that can take you on the waves and into the lives of women surfers. We wanted to capture nature and water from the female perspective and show the beauty and strength of the female body celebrating women exactly as they are.

Nature of Surf Women is a one-of-a-kind coffee table book that includes photographs, sounds of nature, and real-life stories of women surfers.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
In the beginning, everything about this project was magical: Nosara is one of the five blue zones in the world, named after a heroic indigenous princess. Our beaches are wildlife refuges. The intention was to capture the spirit of women surfers of all ages, ethnicities, body types, and skill levels.

But shooting in the jungle is all about obstacles on the way – starting from the unpredictable weather, finding a recording studio in the wilderness, making women comfortable with close-ups of their wrinkles and scars…

I think the biggest challenge was to avoid cliches and trends connected with surf photography and capture special moments, rituals, and synergy with the waves.

I decided to work with documentary photographer Gabriela Tellez, originally from CR but living and working in France. She had never surfed, and she had a fear of big waves. So we invited her to live with us for a while, and after a month, she started feeling the community vibe and support and lost her fear. We got fully funded on Kickstarter and published the book in December 2023.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
The project is growing and expanding into many different art forms. We collaborate with nonprofit organizations and brands, organizing interactive exhibitions and panels about women’s surf communities, surf therapy, and ocean awareness.

Also, we are in pre-production for the documentary film about Surf Therapy with Natalie Small, founder of the GroudSwell Community project. Discovering the therapeutic benefits of being in the ocean and surrounded by nature for stress relief and overcoming trauma is something that we want to share with the world.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I think that we receive new challenges in life when we are ready physically and mentally to move to the next level. You can call it luck, a gift from God, or your karma, but the most important thing is to Be Aware / Preset so you can receive it and handle it without fear and stress.

I am so lucky that I have found my little tribe, women with whom I can surf and share my ups and downs. Somehow I am closer to my surf sisters than to my childhood friends or people I meet in the city, I think because we take care of each other in the water, and we don’t have any masks – no make up, no clothes, no phones just us, and a big blue sea:)

Pricing:

• Nature oF Surf Women Book $70

Contact Info:

• Website: www.natureofsurfwomen.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nature_of_surfwomen/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/natureofsurfwomen/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ivana-bajic-5908206a/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0BtD092BsnT9TxtNUM3ECg

Image Credits
Ivana profile By Filip Shobot Book images by Gabriela Tellez