And two in a row! After nearly 5 years of seeing the Surf Session covers pass under my nose, now after the one for number 377, I got the one for number 378! And it is the image that finished as a semi-finalist of the RedBull Illume 2019 that is given the honor of finishing on the front page.

The theme of the magazine is mainly access to wholesale surfing, with a subject on safety and offshore rules during such swells but also the risks present in Belharra for example, since the big days are generally summed up in one word: circus . This is something that I have seen the few times I have been there and it is also why I skipped the last swell, favoring other destinations more in line with my photographic tastes.

Still, this image perfectly illustrates the chaos that these days can represent. For the record, it was a rather special day with a strong southerly wind, not the best conditions for paddling Belharra. For the first time, I was riding behind a jetski, which allowed me to have another vision of the wave, and I had in mind to take the opportunity to get off the beaten track on this very famous spot and very publicized. A few surfers were paddling and were picked up by a shifting wave. I just had time to point my optics at the immense green gun which jumped from the foam to contrast in the heavy sky. An atypical photo but which illustrates well the underside of big surf.

Here is the original version for the curious!

Des planches abandonnées suite au clean-up set, se font expulser de la mousse sur la vague Belharra, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France. 04 Janvier 2018.