A photo of a man and his dog.

To the left is text written by Maurice Cole, the man in the photo, describing the close relationship he had with his dog, Taz. Maurice explains that the day he beat cancer was the same day he found out Taz had leukemia. The vet gave him two weeks. "I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Taz stepped in and took that bullet for me."

Maurice was grief stricken following Taz' death. "I'd never had anyone that close to me die before. Because I'm adopted and I don't know who my parents are I've never had to deal with losing someone that close to me".

He later travelled to the US and visited shaper Pat Rawson who'd just been informed his father had passed away. Pat was grieving but between his own tears saw Maurice was also crying and asked why. "I think I'm crying because I don't know my parents and I'm never going to know what you're feeling now, Pat."

The passage finishes with Maurice reflecting on Taz' burial plot high above Bells Beach. "He's got the best seat in the house. I give him a nod whenever I get a good one through The Bowl."

When the eye is cast back to the photo it now contains much more than a man and his dog.

There are some people who say that art should speak for itself; that literal explanations erode the mystery. But I don't subscribe to that theory. I believe that art can be enriched when we are given context; that the characters become more animated and their situations more dramatic when we know the backstory.

The creators of the The Ninth Wave obviously agree for the premise of the book is just that: take 100 incredible surfing images and tell the story behind each of them. The photographs are supplied by talented lensmen such as Jon Frank, Dean Dampney, Trent Mitchell, Ted Grambeau and Stuart Gibson. The words are written, sometimes by the photographer, sometimes by the subject, and at other times by the editor, Sean Doherty. Whoever had the best story it seems.

And with 100 stories to tell the range is wide and varied: there's adventures in technical excellence, misadventures in big-wave machismo, mortal contemplations and the odd spot of beer-fuelled bluster. Each story proportional to the accompanying image so the verbal complements, and ultimately elevates, the visual.

The Ninth Wave shouldn't be mistaken for a photo annual as the images aren't anchored in current fashions or celebrity. Nor is it a magazine, as it is bound in hard covers with not a single advertisement between them. I could imagine picking this book up ten years hence and the contents having no lesser affect.

The Ninth Wave is presented by Surfing World and published by 3CMG. It is available for $39.95 from Woodslane.