Ocean Photographer of the Year - Ocean AdventureOcean Photographer of the Year - Ocean Adventure 

Winner Ocean Adventure Photographer of the Year

Ben Thouard

The Ocean Adventure Photographer of the Year is awarded to the photographer who most successfully celebrates our love and fascination of life in, on and around the ocean.

Ben Thouard is originally from Toulon in south-eastern France on the Mediterranean coast. The 39-year-old, award winning ocean photographer has been surfing since he was six years old. He discovered photography as a teen and has been a professional photographer for 20 years. He lives in Tahiti – French Polynesia, a small island in the south pacific that plays host to some of the best surfing waves in the world. He has published 2 books. In the last 10 years, Thouard has gained notoriety for capturing what's happening under the water’s surface. The turbulence of the waves, the crystal-clear water, and the tableau of colours and textures has provided endless inspiration and room for experimentation. In 2024, photographing surfing for the Olympics he spent ten hours each day in the water shooting.  

Location: Nazaré, Portugal

Equipment: Fujifilm GFX 100s, Fujifilm GF 250mm lens

Settings: 1/800, f/8, ISO 100

Image size: 143.5cm x 143.5cm

Wall text

“The wind came from the north which made the surf tricky,” says Thouard. “Not many surfers went out, but I wanted to photograph Justine Dupont and Éric Rebière who gave it a try. I decided to shoot from the beach; the big sets and saltwater in the air made it hard to capture anything. Eventually, I managed to take this shot.”

Description

Taken from the beach in the late afternoon on a bright but cold day amid strong winds and saltwater spray. This photo was taken on a 10-day trip to Nazaré, Portugal and Ben was stoked to have captured this unusual shot.  

This is an almost monochromatic, white, grey and blue landscape image comprising turbulent waves. The crashing, rippling water is caught by the play of shadows and light in the dying afternoon sun.  

At the top of the image at right is a section of overcast sky. On our left, ominous, folded and curling water rolls forward in a big wave, one of five layers of turgid sea, one atop the other in the image. The top wave is accentuated by a curtain of salt spray billowing off the water and filling the air, the sky and the waves are blending.

In front of this tall, curling wall of water is another wave. Along its crest, shrublike darker tufts of swirling swell stand out against the lighter-coloured, misty salt spray.  

A narrow section of swollen, calmer sea separates this rolling wave from a frothing, large breaker in front. And just to the right of centre, silhouetted against the wave-wall are two figures on a water-craft, tiny in the angry sea. One person pilots the jet ski, their hands on the handlebars, another, hands by his sides, rides behind.  Gathering shadows play in the choppy swell closest to us, where the water is at its darkest. Here, the ocean is rising into a myriad of choppy movements, jagged and pattern-less peaks of rising and withdrawing water.  

A touch panel accompanies this image. It is located to your left, just a few steps away on the outer wall, if you are standing at the tactile floor panel.

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