Spirits of the Sea - The Story Behind This Award-Winning Series
Photographing the Biggest Waves In The World
The ocean is a world full of mystery, beauty, power, and life where endless stories are discovered. I remember how fascinated I was to learn that no two waves will ever be the same; little did I know how much meaning that would give my fine art photography career.
“Sea Spirits” from the Spirits of the Sea series
Back in December of 2020, I had a remarkable opportunity to encounter the rare occurring waves at Peʻahi (also known as Jaws) on the north shore of Maui for my very first time—you can read about that story HERE. Since I moved to the island in 2009, I’ve seen photographs and videos of the immense surf here many times over the years, but nothing would compare to what it felt like to experience these waves up close and personal from a private chartered boat. Peʻahi opened my eyes to a new force of nature on our planet and the great mysteries that exist within our seas.
“Kaleidoscope” from the Spirits of the Sea series
Witnessing the magnitude of these waves from the water awakened a new inspiration. I was eager to return to Peʻahi, knowing this was just the beginning of creating a new fine art series. Over the next month, I began researching and tracking surf forecasts almost daily, waiting to see if another big swell would happen. Then, on January 9th, 2021, massive storms outside of Japan hit the weather radars and went viral in the surf community. An XXL swell was on its way to Hawaiʻi, and I immediately contacted my local helicopter pilot.
After days of analyzing the swell forecast, my close friends and I had to decide on the best time to fly, as aircraft reservations were filling up fast. All we hoped for was that our flight time would align with the peak of the swell, and we’d soar over the biggest waves during the golden hours of sunlight.
“Raven” from the Spirits of the Sea series
On Saturday, January 16th, the ocean was pulsing with energy. Our predictions seemed to be working in our favor as the swell progressively grew throughout the day. At 3:00 PM, our helicopter flight took off from Kahului, and soon after, we were flying over the biggest waves to hit the north shore of Maui in nearly a decade. Until the sun set, we watched legendary big wave surfers, including Makua Rothman, Ian Walsh, Garrett McNamara, Kai Lenny, and Billy Kemper, skillfully navigate jet skis to tow each other into massive walls of water, racing the avalanches of towering white wash that chased each surfer. It was hard to grasp what we were seeing, and I couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like to ride one of these monsters.
Ocean Explosion from my Spirits of the Sea fine art series — Kai Lenny surfing an absolute bomb of a wave at Peʻahi.
“Those waves, they create their own wind and their own ecosystem—they aren’t like the normal-size waves. They have bumps as big as cars on their face,” said professional surfer Makua Rothman in a post-swell interview. The winds that day were fierce, spraying gallons of mist off the back of each wave. For the surfers, it was an element of extreme challenge they had to face, but for me, it was an element of surprise that helped create such beautiful art.
The ocean felt so alive. Stories emerged from each ripple that reached this little edge of the Earth and exploded onto the northern shores of Maui. A once-in-a-lifetime moment appeared to me when a cloud of sea mist miraculously formed into the shape of a heart, inspiring the name of this new fine art series: Spirits of the Sea.
“Love of Peʻahi” from the Spirits of the Sea series
From relentless research and planning to soaring over such inexorable forces of nature, I learned that these experiences would prepare me for an even bigger swell event that came three years later. On December 22, 2024, Peʻahi roared with some of the most powerful surf our local community may have ever seen.
“Eternity” from the Spirits of the Sea series
Developing a refined awareness for how these magnificent swells at Peʻahi form and studying the interplay of light and water, I now had a vision to photograph the most beautiful waves in the world. As Earth celebrated the return of sunlight that year, I ventured back into the sky to photograph the raw intensity of these historic phenomena and the spiritual echoes they left behind.
