Award-winning photographer Thomas Meurot reflects on his cold-water surfing adventure in Iceland

Discovering out he’d gained the Sony World Pictures Awards within the Sports activities class got here as a little bit of a shock to French photographer Thomas Meurot – largely as a result of he had utterly forgotten he’d even entered.

Whereas biking by Scandinavia along with his girlfriend, Thomas had put the competitors utterly out of his thoughts. That’s, till one fateful day when he obtained a name telling him he’d gained. “I used to be simply so excited once I discovered, particularly as a result of I didn’t keep in mind getting into. It was such an intense second. It was unimaginable.”

The work that gained him the award got here from Kald Sòl (Chilly Solar), a mission capturing the essence of cold-water browsing in Iceland. In January 2023, Meurot and a bunch of primarily non-professional surfers set out on a two-week journey, chasing waves in sub-zero temperatures. His hanging black-and-white pictures from this journey are a shocking tribute to the uncooked, rugged great thing about Iceland, and the eagerness of the surfers braving the weather.

Euronews Tradition: When did you first begin pursuing images?

Thomas Meurot: I actually began images once I was younger, perhaps round 8 or 10 years outdated. My dad and mom would purchase me disposable cameras once I went on vacation or on faculty journeys. I beloved taking photos of random issues to point out them. Once I was 18, I moved to Australia, and I took a digital camera with me. There, I met individuals who advised me I may really become profitable from images. I began taking pictures manually, and I noticed a photographer named Chris Burkard and his surf images. I believed, “Wow, I need to do that.” That was in 2014, and since then, I have been studying step-by-step.

What was the primary digital camera you had?

The primary digital camera I keep in mind was a small yellow Canon point-and-shoot. My first actual skilled digital camera was a Sony A6000, which my buddy Jacob offered to me in 2017.

Inform us extra about your mission Kald Sòl (Chilly Solar).

So Kald Sòl began first as a documentary film, which yow will discover on Amazon Prime proper now. It’s a few group of pals who created a cold-water browsing affiliation. A photographer, additionally known as Thomas, contacted me and mentioned they’d like to have one other photographer be part of an expedition that they had deliberate to Iceland. The concept was to take non-professional surfers there. If you watch surf films, particularly in Iceland, it’s all the time skilled surfers. So I advised Thomas I actually needed to make a browsing film.

We took one skilled surfer, Samuel Redon, and the remainder of the group had been non-pros. The journey began like this: we went there and spent two weeks simply chasing waves in January 2023. We had been actually fortunate with plenty of swell and waves. As a photographer, I couldn’t cease myself from taking just a few photos right here and there, although my major focus was the movie. I ended up with an excellent quantity of images and didn’t know what to do with them. I ultimately made black-and-white edits of the photographs, which I actually preferred.

What impressed you to enter the Sony World Pictures Awards?

Final 12 months, I used to be touring by bike for 4 months in Scandinavia with my girlfriend. I obtained an electronic mail from the Sony World Pictures Awards saying there have been only some days left to enter, so I believed, “Hey, let’s do it.” Then, to be trustworthy, I forgot about my entry. I obtained a name later telling me I had gained. I had utterly forgotten about it as a result of I used to be biking day by day and taking in all these experiences. It was wonderful to win within the Sports activities class. It’s an enormous competitors, and I used to be simply so excited once I discovered, particularly as a result of I didn’t keep in mind getting into. It was such an intense second. It was unimaginable.

What did you find out about chilly browsing?

I’ve all the time needed to surf in a chilly nation. I come from Provence, actually near the French Alps. I’ve been snowboarding since I used to be a child, after which I obtained into browsing. Watching Chris Burkard and his work round cold-water browsing, I believed, “Wow, that is the very best expertise you may have.” So, getting there was wonderful. We had an excellent expertise with browsing as a result of we obtained quite a lot of waves, fortunately. We had been actually lucky with the swells. It’s freezing chilly, however that zeal retains you on the market. Even if you’re chilly, you continue to need to keep outdoors, movie for the blokes, and surf as effectively.

It was only a actually cool expertise. I need to do extra issues like this. You actually really feel alive. It was simply insane. I like the chilly. I like the truth that you are utterly alone, going through the weather.

What was essentially the most difficult half in regards to the expedition?

One of many hardest elements technically was getting my Sony A74 simply earlier than beginning the journey. Earlier than that, I had all the time shot with a special digital camera, so it was a giant step for me to make use of a brand new one with out realizing it too effectively. I missed just a few photographs initially of the journey. Fortunately, nothing too unhealthy occurred, nevertheless it burdened me out somewhat. However we had a extremely good workforce and nice teamwork, which helped make the whole lot work.

The toughest half in Iceland was not realizing what the climate would do. You may have a window of excellent climate, after which instantly, it turns right into a storm with snow. Driving by snowstorms was powerful.

Why did you select black and white for the photographs?

I made a decision to make a few of my photos black and white as a result of even when it’s sunny in Iceland, you are still actually chilly. The black and white edit helped convey that chilly feeling. It jogged my memory of the chilliness within the air. In Iceland, throughout that point of 12 months, the solar barely units, and it appears like dawn all day. It creates stunning colors, however I needed folks to focus extra on the feel of Iceland moderately than the colors. You may see the feel within the mountains, the waves, and the surfers. I didn’t need all the eye to go to the attractive colors.

Do you see any similarities between the artwork of browsing and images itself?

Oh that is an excellent query… They’re two very completely different arts, however some surfers, after they experience their boards, create true artwork. They draw strains on the waves. There’s positively a connection between surfers and photographers. The extra you perceive your surfer’s model, the simpler it’s to seize the precise shot. If you’re taking pictures within the water, you really want to belief one another. Personally, once I take an image, I like to point out quite a lot of the panorama and solely a small portion of the surfer to stress the dimensions. So realizing your surfer helps you body the shot higher.

And in browsing, it’s important to be affected person and select the precise wave, which suggests ready for the right second. It’s the identical with images – it’s important to watch for the precise second to seize the shot.

In what methods can browsing provide life classes that stretch past the game?

It teaches you to be humble. Principally with the ocean. To be utterly trustworthy, I do not actually just like the vibe of surf tradition these days. There’s an excessive amount of bother. An excessive amount of selfishness with folks saying “that is my wave!”. However our chilly water browsing affiliation love the sharing side. We do not care about discovering “the right wave”, we simply need to have enjoyable.