Healing Through a Beach State of Mind

Healing Through a Beach State of Mind

Faith Teasley’s decade-long love letter to the North Carolina coast, captured on film

By Madison Bailey  »  Photos by Faith Teasley

There’s a certain magic to the North Carolina coast in its slow rhythms, serene shores and quiet charm. It’s a phenomenon that aligns with the Blue Mind theory, which suggests that being near water calms the brain and nurtures creativity.

“If you get it, you get it,” Wilmington-based photographer Faith Teasley says, referencing her book, Saltwater Coastal Carolina, a collection of film photos she’s taken of the entire North Carolina coast over the past decade. Her images—shot entirely on film—span from the Outer Banks to the Crystal Coast and invite viewers into a peaceful, water-centered state of mind.

“The beach can be a state of mind,” Teasley says. “I feel like my work helps people access that—whether they live by the ocean or just wish they did.”

Although Teasley hails from Fayetteville, her connection to the ocean runs deep. She credits her grandmother, Betty, for instilling a love of coastal life. “She always said saltwater was in our family’s veins,” she says, recalling her grandma’s North Carolina salter lineage.

Of course, the photographer’s summers spent on the Pamlico Sound also helped shape her coastal identity and ability to tell stories through photos. Her family had a small cottage on the water, complete with a pier and boat. “We’d fish with shrimp we got from the local market, watch dolphins, and just spend the days out on the water,” she says. “That place and those summers really shaped how I see the coast.”

After high school, it was obvious that photography was the art she wanted to pursue, and her early years working in commercial and wedding photography helped sharpen her technical eye.

“As far back as I can remember, I’ve loved telling stories through photography,” she says. But it was her personal view of the coast that ultimately shaped her artistic vision. She first dreamed up the idea for Saltwater Coastal Carolina in 2014 after a quiet weekend shooting film in Southport. What started as a backburner thought—“What if I photographed the entire North Carolina coast on film?”—slowly evolved into a decade-long project.

As Teasley traveled for portrait and wedding work, she began gathering photographs of the coastline, seizing every opportunity to document the landscapes that moved her. Along the way, she launched her brand, Saltwater Collection, the umbrella for her print shop.

By 2019, Teasley realized she had built an impressive archive and knew it was time to bring her vision to life. In 2020, she officially began creating the book, which was self-published in 2023.

“It wasn’t a decade of constant work, but nearly 10 years of quietly collecting and creating,” she says. “That pace allowed me to honor my vision.”

Today, Saltwater Coastal Carolina is a visual love letter to the state’s shorelines.

And even though she feels like she’s created her dream job—selling out her first 1,000 copies—she’s more touched by the way her work makes others feel. “I want people to feel like they’re in the photographs—or to be inspired to go,” she says.

Readers have told her the book feels like a collection of their own memories. Others use it as a travel guide, with even locals discovering new corners of their home state. As a result of Saltwater Collection, an online Instagram community of coastal lovers was born.

There, those who love her photography and share her vision of intentional, slow living have a place to connect and share their dreamiest musings. Some have even traveled to Teasley’s book signings across the state, where the photographer has been able to hear their stories and connection to her work. “I feel like it connects us all together,” Teasley says.

However, her journey hasn’t come without challenges. While the book looks dreamy and effortless on the surface, much of it was created while Teasley battled chronic illness—something she’s only recently begun to open up about.

“Most people would never know, because I hide it. But the truth is, I’ve had to push myself way beyond my limits just to do the work I love,” she says.

But it’s also what pushed her to shift from service-based photography to print and product work. Still, her determination remained unwavering—proven especially when she decided to shoot aerial film photography for the book.

Wanting to stay true to the analog process, Teasley nixed the idea of drones and instead booked a doorless helicopter ride with High Tide Helicopters in Southport.

“I had my camera, my seatbelt harness, and they literally let me hang out over the edge,” she laughs. “It was the coolest experience—Oak Island Lighthouse, Johnnie Mercer's Pier, downtown Wilmington—all from above, all on film.”

Despite the physical toll, Teasley says the project was worth every ounce of energy. “Life is short. I’m not interested in living a life with regrets.”

Through her lens, Teasley offers an invitation to pause, breathe and remember what it feels like to be fully present.

Find Saltwater Coastal Carolina at saltwatercollection.com.