Okay so there are a lot of people out there shooting surf at the moment and yes it helps if you are shooting the right thing. Subject matter is important and I guess if you are in the know with the right people (pros, sponsors etc) then your access to the stuff work filming becomes a lot easier.
There are, however those that just love filming surf, that where born to do it and just put the hours in, grind out the time. Early mornings in cold off-shores on the beach and long hot sweaty afternoons just waiting for the perfect section or barrel shot. I was lucky enough to get to know one of these people and actually surf with him.
Julien Turpaud is one of the coolest people I have met and when he is not filming surf he is out there surfing himself. Which is where I met him. In the unknown spot of Capbreton, France.
Preferring to keep on the low down , Julien is the quiet, brilliant type. What I would like to show you now is a collaboration between the man himself and one of the rare surfing talents of the world named Fred Compagnon, equally as little known. Fred became known to me when I moved to Capbreton. He was the guy who would wait until a serious swell hit, with a huge period, and go and get his aliah and SUP and do some surf propelled 'step offs'.
Enough words, watch this...
You really have to bear in mind that Fred has been doing this for a while now, before the Domke machine got going and kind of, in a way, pioneered this type of thing in Europe. I hope that surfing history will remember him KINDLY.
Getting back to the present, here is a look at what Julien has been up to recently.
After talking to Julien on the beach, watching him and how much time he spends filming for so little footage it became apparent how difficult it must be to make a living out of this, he really does do it for the love.
We at Surf Bunker salute you and hope you and others like you keep making things for us all to enjoy.
Paul, by Julien.
Waiting for the Train
On the beach, doing his thing...