That's what Paul Jones has been doing since 2017.

For the majority of the year, the University of Wollongong photojournalist is found roaming the corridors of the uni to document the talents of its students, researchers and staff.

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But each year he makes the trek to the bottom of an Indonesian volcano to live with a tiny group of villagers for five weeks who have been surviving, just as their ancestors have done, by hunting whales.

Jones finds their traditional ways fascinating, and being off-the-grid "meditative". He is sharing some of his insight at Wollongong Art Gallery this month in a joint exhibition.

"There's only a thousand people who live in the village and they hunt whales as they have for hundreds of years and traditionally on small wooden boats that they make themselves," Jones said.

"They make the harpoons forged out of steel. They even braid the ropes. It's like going back in time."

Despite the West outlawing the murder of such majestic creatures, he still holds a deep interest for these Aboriginal subsistence whalers.

"Will they be around in 25 years or will it just cease to exist and be some tourist opportunity to 'go for a ride out on an old whale boat'?" Jones said.

"I'll be curious to see whether they're still there or whether I've documented basically the demise."

Their practice almost seems innocent with their small wooden boats and hand-made spears, but the mammal is big enough to feed their entire village as opposed to a fish which could feed one or two. And they never hunt more than what they need.

They know the West "judges" them for what they do, but they don't fully understand it. In their world there is no climate change. If they have a year with no whales, it is not migration patterns but their ancestors who are unhappy with them.

"I'm drawn to controversial things, but at the same time, I think it's really important that people see how these people live," Jones said.

"You may not like it and some people may be offended by it, but I'm lucky enough to travel around the world and [document these] places that are off the beaten track."

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Jones' works are currently on show alongside renowned photographer Chris Duczynski's at the Wollongong Art Gallery until February 26.

The joint exhibition, From the Deep. A tale of anthropology meeting technology, melds the simple life with the industry of Port Kembla.

"For a couple of years ... I worked as a wharfie unloading cars, grain, cement and steel from ships at Port Kembla," Duczynski said.

"I was totally amazed at the ship's stark industrial beauty. The monumental size of the rivets, the giant steel panels, even the massive anchors. So, I started documenting them. The images on display were taken at the port over a two years period."

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