Spirits of the Sea - The Story Behind This Award-Winning Series
The Biggest Waves In The World
The ocean is a world of mystery, beauty, and life that holds an endless discovery of stories and metaphors. I remember how fascinated I was when I learned and realized that no two waves will ever be the same. Little did I know how much meaning that would have in my fine art photography career.
“Raven”
From the Spirits of the Sea series
This past winter season, I was fortunate to witness the rare occurring waves at Pe’ahi (aka Jaws) on the north shore of Maui for my very first time. During the 12 years I’ve lived on island, I’ve seen photographs and videos of the surf here several times, but nothing would compare to what it felt like when I experienced these waves in person. Pe’ahi opened my eyes to a new force of nature on our planet, and the great mysteries that are within our seas.
On December 2nd, 2020 I had the incredible opportunity of documenting the first waves of the season at Jaws from a private boat - You can read about the story HERE. Watching these waves up close and personal left me filled with so much inspiration, and I was eager to return knowing that this was just the beginning. Over the next month I began researching and tracking surf forecasts almost daily, waiting to see if another big swell would happen. Then on January 9th, 2021, massive storms outside of Japan hit the radars and went viral in the surf community. An XXL swell was on its way to Hawai’i. I knew I needed to document this event, so I immediately contacted my local helicopter pilot Nick at Go Fly Maui. After hours of analyzing the storm and swell, a few friends and I had to decide on the best time to fly, as the aircraft reservations were filling up fast. Our hope was that we would see the largest waves of the day during the golden hours of sunlight.
It was Saturday, January 16th and the ocean was pulsing. Our predictions seemed to be working in our favor as the swell progressively grew throughout the day. Our flight took off at 3pm, and within minutes we were flying over the biggest waves that had hit the north shore of Maui in nearly a decade. Until the sun set, we watched legendary big wave surfers including Makua Rothman, Ian Walsh, Garrett McNamara, Kai Lenny and Billy Kemper tow each other with jet skis into massive walls of water that formed avalanches of white wash. It was hard to grasp what we were seeing, and I couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like to ride one of these monsters. Check out my full collection of Hawai’i Big Wave Surfing to see some of the best rides from the super swell Saturday at Jaws.
“Ocean Explosion”
From the Spirits of the Sea series
“Those waves, they create their own wind, their own ecosystem, and they have things that aren’t on the normal-size wave: bumps as big as cars on their face,” said professional surfer Makua Rothman in a post-swell interview. The winds that day were fierce, spraying gallons of mist off the back of each wave. For the surfers, it was an element of extreme challenge they had to face, but for us it was an element of surprise that created such beautiful art.
“Sea Spirits”
From the Spirits of the Sea series
Flying above waves that reached over 60 feet in size revealed a violent chaos of turbulence, yet a beautiful show of shapes and colors in the light of the setting sun. In one direction the ocean was a calm blue surface that expanded toward the horizon as far as my eyes could see. In the opposite, it would effortlessly form mountains of water that curled and exploded into its surface with such power and grace. The spirit of the sea was so alive that day, with so many stories emerging from each ripple that reached this little edge of the Earth. A once-in-a-lifetime moment came to me when a cloud of sea mist miraculously formed into the shape of a heart.
“Breathe” fine art photography print installation.