In it’s early days surf photography set out to capture a manoeuvre. The framing was tight and the compositions simple. Since then it has expanded, drawing heavily on influences from other areas of photography, to become a whole sub-genre in itself with much broader aims.
Surf images now set out to explore the landscape and the social context in which the surfing is taking place and some even aim to tackle subjects as broad as our relationship with raw unmediated nature as a whole. Long form editorial photo essays in surf mags have also allowed truely great images which document the place, the people and the adventure to sit along side the images of waves breaking. It is rare to come across a photographer that typifies so perfectly all the elements that make contemporary surf photography so great, but Victor Gonzalez’s series for his new book ‘Mas Que Mar’ does just that:
MÁS QUE MAR is a photography book which shows the different cultures and peoples, landscapes and waves, around the corners of 22 countries from 5 continents. A photographic tour focused more in the way than the destination itself; the people we come across with when we travel, the cultures that embrace us, the landscapes we find and, of course, the waves we enjoy. A look taking us from remote places to closer corners, but always with images that tell stories, pictures trying to move you to that moment and the place they were taken.
With a careful design, MÁS QUE MAR is an embossed hard cover book, composed by 304 pages of 150gr matt coated paper with dimensions 22 x 31 cm (8,6 x 12,2 inches), containing with 210 photos taken in Nicaragua, Cuba, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, Peru, United states, Canada, Morocco, New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, Spain, Ireland, Norway, France, Indonesia, Thailand, Maldives, Sri Lanka, Philippines and India.
If you want purchase the book in advance or help to fund this project in exchange for a printed copy of some of the photos of the book, you can do it in this link of Kickstarter.
