Brian Bielmann's best photograph: Nathan Fletcher surfing Teahupo'o
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Version 0 of 1. I believe this is the greatest wave ever surfed and I've never met anybody who disagreed. It came in August 2011 during the Billabong pro surfing competition at Teahupo'o in Tahiti, although a code red swell meant the contest had been called off. The harbour was closed, and boats weren't allowed out. Officials were telling people they could lose their licences if they disobeyed. But a couple of people snuck out, saw how it was, then some more followed, and within a few hours everybody was out there. I got a ride out on a jetski and begged my way on to a boat. Then I saw the first wave and thought it was the most horrifying thing ever. It was absolute chaos out there: about 50 boats in five lines were going over the incoming waves, while, all around, there were jetskis, surfers and people in canoes and on paddleboards. I was terrified. I've been going to Teahupo'o for a long time and knew how dangerous it was, but a lot of people must have thought they were in an amusement park. They didn't realise the danger: somebody could easily have died. Every time a new wave came in, the first line of boats would slowly go over the top. Then the second would go over a bit faster. I was in the fifth row and by the time a wave reached us, we'd be going straight up its front and barely making it over. With this particular wave, my boat was last over so we got furthest inside. That's how I got the angle. The trails you see in the foreground are from the other boats and jetskis. Other photographers on boats higher up were looking down into the tube, so they didn't get all the water churning white in the background, which shows you the true height of the wave. About 5% of the waves could be ridden, but this wasn't one of them. It shouldn't have been possible, but somehow Nathan Fletcher surfed it. When he saw the shot afterwards, he was blown away – he'd had no idea how big the wave was. He got pulled on to it by a jetski and it was only when he got to the bottom and started riding through the barrel that he realised it was a big one. In the shot, he has just burst through a ball of white foam. Big waves have been ridden before, but this was another level. None of us could understand how Nathan survived. Just after this was taken, the wave collapsed on him. He told me he was thrown around so violently that, at one point, he reached up to check his head was still connected to his body. I knew the shot was going to have a life of its own. It's been published, talked about and won awards. I see it as a gift from God because I didn't do anything creative. It's all down to the angle I had and that was because my boat-driver was crazy enough to get me in that position. He gets mad when I say that because he knows the spot well and knew exactly where to be to get out safely, but in the end anything could have happened. Once we'd got over the wave, I looked at the picture on my camera screen and couldn't believe my eyes. It looked fake, like somebody had photoshopped a person into that giant wave. CV Born: New York, 1957. Studied: Self-taught and assisted on fashion, portrait and commercial shoots. Influences: Art Brewer, Jeff Divine, Howard Schatz and Annie Leibovitz. High point: "This photograph." Low point: "A year ago, when the magazine I worked for, Transworld Surf, was shut down." Top tip: "Think outside the box and love what you're doing." |