Urban Surfers Update

By now most of you reading this post have been picked up and swallowed by the Polar Vortex. With temperatures hitting ZERO in areas around Philadelphia, NY and even as far as Baltimore, many of us couldn't imagine stepping near a beach. Well that's what separates us from these special folks I've been busy shooting lately.

Urban Surfers went on a bit of a hiatus during the last week of September  through the first week of November. I purposely didn't shoot any during that time since I had a backlog that I wanted to hold off until the weather started to really change. I wanted to get a diversity of seasons and the only way to see it would be to wait until the trees shed their leaves, and snow hit the ground. 

When I started this project back in June of last year, I started to a Google doc to keep notes on everyone I shot. The details I would keep were locations of the shoot and exact times in which we started shooting. I also kept mental notes. Mental notes on who surfed year round and had all the gear necessary to stand up to freezing temperatures. Lately I started calling on those brave souls to meet after snowfalls, and near zero degree conditions. Here are a few from the past month that I've shot: 

(please pass this this link along to anyone you may know who lives in the Phila., NY, Baltimore, or any East Coast city. I'm keeping my journal stocked so when I'm on the road, I can keep this going in cities across the US) 

Urban Surfers

There's nothing quite like the motivation of a beautiful woman to get you to try a sport that you've always wished you could do but never thought you could pick it up past your 10th birthday. This is the motivation that I felt three years ago when I met the woman of my dreams that would become my best friend and wife. 

I always knew some of my friends surfed but I never REALLY knew what that meant. Being from Philly I knew people surfed at the Jersey Shore, which is pretty obvious if you hit the beach each summer.  But not knowing the culture and the passion that drives some individuals to wake up at 4-5am and drive 1+ hours each way just to get a couple hours in during a swell (which the best surfing in the Northeast is from Fall - Spring), I was basically clueless what surfing really meant to them. 

This project is directly inspired by three friends of mine: Adrian Castillo, Chris "Cakes" Savaiano, and Jim "Hammer" Hammell who took me under their wings and suffered with the humiliation (that I still bring when I go out with them) of helping a newbie. Their dedication to teaching and insisting I go out with them whenever they go, helped me confidently say to that beautiful girl I met for coffee three years ago that, "I surf". 

(Stay tuned for more info regarding this project as I have big plans for next Spring/early Summer)