One late summer's day. A sea storm from South-West brings waves and crystal clear air
The early bird catches the worm, so Alexander and I decided to move at first light of day. Ale on the phone told me that he would have liked to do something different, he wanted to shoot in the water using film. According to him, there might have been the best waves of all the summer season, and we shouldn't have missed them out! I loaded a 36-pose film into my camera: Kodak Ektar.
I knew how hard it is to find good waves in summer, perfect light, shooting with film and be able to bring about a satisfying outcome. There were too many factors to consider and chances to succeed in 36 clicks were really low. And then, we had to hurry up, Ale had to be back to work at 10.00.
The pier in Forte dei Marmi was our home spot that day, a point of reference for all the surfing scene in the area. Nobody showed up early that morning so Ale immediately attracted the spotlight. A show for one single spectator, and he was the only performer.
We started shooting photos nonstop until I heard the camera rewinding the film inside my diving suit. The shooting was so intense that I had no idea whether or not we had taken the photograph we wanted. If we did have it, then it was there, rolled up in the film, and I couldn't wait to get out of the water and run and check it out.
Ale ran off to work and I rushed to get the precious film developed. There are moments in which all elements coincide, they are only brief moments of an ordinary day ... For us, everything was summed up in those moments of light ... a late summer's morning in Forte dei Marmi.
F. Maffei
