As one advances in their surfing journey, the world’s best waves start to engrain themselves in a way that invites endless imagination and daydreams.
For many, a majority of these waves will forever be out of reach due to travel costs and restrictions. The good news is that dreaming, at least, is still free.
Fred Pompermayer’s newest Fiji gallery is perfect fodder for the mind-surfing imagination. Mouthwatering proof that perfect waves exist and, even if we can’t get to them, the knowledge that they are out there keep us going.
Fred Pompermayer
To drive home the point of how having the freedom to travel is such a privilege, just the other day, Moroccan big wave legend Othomane Choufani commented on a friend’s post from Fiji: “Enjoy it! I’m proud to be Moroccan but I need a visa to go so many places, Ireland, Fiji, Australia are places I have never been. So send it! Because for some people, they are places we can only dream of going.”
Fred Pompermayer
Behind the lens and in the impact zone, Pompermayer shows once again why he is one of the most respected surf shooters working today. From his home base in California, he has spent more than two decades chasing the world’s heaviest and most beautiful waves with his camera, from Nazaré to Mavericks to Cortes Bank to Teahupo’o to Jaws. His water-shot work, often from deeper inside the impact zone than most photographers, has landed on countless covers and defined how a generation of surfers has seen the sport’s most iconic waves at the best and biggest.
Fred Pompermayer
In Fiji, he captured local boys James Kusitino and Teo Degei, alongside visiting heavies like Lucas Chumbo and Kai Lenny. All due respect to Kai and Chumbo, but the way the young locals are surfing Cloudbreak is on another level.
Fred Pompermayer
His latest gallery from Fiji is no different, classic shots from one of surfing’s greatest lensmen. Cloudbreak in its prime, you know, blue-water perfection with barrels that, when frozen in time, look inviting and (dare I say) almost easy. The kind of tropical paradise light that can make every frame feel like a banger.
Fred Pompermayer
Othomane message is the reminder that gives waves and pictures like these all the more value. For some, the dreaming is the trip. For those of us lucky enough to go, the least we can do is send it while we can and share the stoke and stories when we get home.