A few years ago, I got into surfing. The waves looked tiny from the shore, but in the water they towered over me. Soon after paddling out, I was spat back onto the sand, heaving up salt water from my lungs.

 

The movies mostly presented surfing as a relaxing passtime, with palm trees and barefoot beach bums strumming Ukuleles. There was a brutality to the sport they failed to mention; carrying the heavy board out to sea, furiously paddling against the waves to get beyond the break, waiting around to catch a wave, the real risk of drowning, injury by a board fin or even, the risk of being bitten by something in the deep water! It made me admire the physicality of those competitive surfers who had braved the waves.

 

Surfing is a direct engagement with one of the most powerful elements on the planet. EMERSION attempts to capture some of that. Furthermore, It explores the potential of young men. In a time of rampant greed and carelessness that is destroying the lives of marine animals, can our ambitions be redirected to altruistic ends?

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- Howard Wimshurst