Eyes Were Made For Seeing
One doesn't become a surf filmmaker or photographer overnight; what set you on this road?
I guess it's part of my nature to be watchful; I like to observe things and at the same time, I'm wired to want to make things. When I was young, my Dad gave me his old 1960s Canon SLR and it was almost an innate process for me to look at subjects through the frame of a viewfinder, to structure composition in a way that I found pleasing, to appreciate light play, texture and shape. Of course, at the time I couldn't have articulated those things, but in retrospect I think that's what was happening.
So I suppose that I've always looked at the world with a bit of a photographic eye, and that's definitely informed my filmmaking. I've been in love with surf films ever since I saw The Endless Summer as a little kid. I thought it was incredibly joyful and engaging, and I remember having a vague aspiration to make my own film one day. That dream continued to evolve as I grew as a surfer and experienced the depth of feeling of a committed surfing life.
