Water features prominently in the collective memory and national identity of Australia. From long summers spent building sandcastles and learning to swim, to the sheer immensity and wild beauty of cliffs and dark oceans, our status as an island nation is inescapable.

Collaborating with photographers from around the country, Life at the Edge is a collection of expansive panoramas and detailed closeups showcasing all the textures and tenors of water in Australia: rugged coastlines to ocean pools, mirror-like lakes to micro details of seaweed and shells. Introduced by two narrative essays on the human connection with water and concluded with a scientific explanation to the effects water has on our brain, this book celebrates all aspects of being in, near and around water.

Hear the river rushing past, smell the salty ocean air, feel the slimy rocks - this book is the closest you’ll be to the water without having to travel at all.

Essays included are written by Jock Serong, Amy Liptrot and Dr Deborah Cracknell.