From the Ocean Waves portfolio: Mission Beach – March 10th 2013
In 1937 Ansel Adams said: a great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.
I’ve been near and around the ocean all my life. Hot lazy summers in Santa Monica with my family; cold winters waiting for swing-wide sets at Sunset Cliffs; playful low tide afternoons in Mexico where you can glide through Plexiglas-clear water for two-hundred yards alone on a longboard. And I’ve been trying to find a way to capture that magic with a camera for almost as long. I’ve been lucky – some of my friends are wonderful photographers: Jeff Divine, Anthony Friedkin and Lee Peterson all have beautiful wave portfolios. I’ve seen and fallen in love with wave images created by Robert Longo, Art Brewer and Rick Griffin and they’ve all contributed to my approach to this project.
The Ocean Waves portfolio is an ongoing project that allows me to see and photograph breaking waves in a way that you could only experience in your dreams (or if you were surfing after sunset). The rich color and fleeting energy that – for the most part – you’d have to be in the water to experience.
Prints from the Ocean Waves portfolio are for sale. The image pictured here: Mission Beach March 10th is sold as an open edition 11.7 X 16.5″ print, signed & dated. The price – $240 – includes sales tax and shipping. Please contact me if you’re interested – JD
Field Notes: John Durant Photographer 