Printed using photographic process on Fuji Crystal Archival paper, specifically chosen for its ability to reproduce the nuances of water.

42 inches on the long side

Mounted on ¼-inch Sintra with cleats

Comes with a signed and embossed certificate of authenticity

Available for a limited time only.

Copyright Notice: © David Pu’u—All images on surfersjournal.com are copyright of the photographers and may not be reproduced whole or in part by any means without prior written consent of the photographer. No permission is granted or implied to use the images for any other purpose than purchase as a single-image print. No ownership interest or copyright in any image shall pass to you by the purchasing of this image.

I shot this in winter ’99-’00. I had been stalking an image that would communicate the year’s big event, that of the millennium, and was convinced something appropriate would be found in the ocean. I thought hard about what would communicate creation and all of the uncertainty and promise of the new century. I swam every day.

On a cold December morning with snow on the Sespe (the mountains behind the coast), the air temp was 31 degrees when I left my house. Frost was on the ground, and I was swimming out alone in the dark. As a clean-up set rolled in, I positioned myself over a very shallow sandbar. Through the session, the waves were spitting and throwing sand out the back. I had two frames left. It was taking me forever to get those done. But the rule in film is that you shoot till empty—always. As this exceptionally heavy wave threw out over me, I fired near blindly in the barrel just wanting to leave. Frozen. Over it.

Later that day when I picked up my film I saw the image and thought wow, this is weird, never seen that before. —D.P.

Raised in Santa Barbara, CA, David Pu’u set down the trappings of a desk-job life in 1996 and picked up the camera full time. His was a formula emulated by the now well known Clark Little, although Little may not have known it: pick an undeveloped point of view, put yourself in critical positions as though you are the surfer, repeat.

Focusing initially on very early morning in-the-tube water shots, which brought out luminescent purple and orange hues, Pu’u perfected the niche, culminating with a TSJ cover followed closely after by a Surfer Magazine Big Issue cover. The former earned him the Canon Camera Image of the Year Award. The latter, the esteem of his friends and peers.

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