Addiction. Infatuation. Love. Passion. Mania. Obsession. Heck, some of us could even use the word fetish. These are all ways we often hear people describe their relationship to surfing. And let’s be real, we’re not exactly talking about an activity that’s prone to allowing us to harbor lukewarm feelings.
So yes, addiction is a perfect word to place in the same sentence as surfing. And it’s a word photographer and artist Rodrigo Gomez uses to describe his muse. Born in the Caribbean, Gomez remembers growing up exploring different beaches with his father. “Even though he can’t swim, he loves the water,” Gomez says of his dad. “He loves being out there in the sea, the rivers, nature, the warm parties with the sounds of the black drums and rum.”
He now refers to his own addiction as an “eternal love and hate relationship.” But it’s always, “a passion that keeps growing and evolving, which I try to represent in my art,” he says.
Here are 25 images from photographer/artist Rodrigo Gomez, who now lives in Byron Bay, Australia, feeding his addiction daily. We’re pretty sure they’ll give you a little bit of the same today, too.
Editor’s Note: Words by The Inertia staff with photos by photographer Rodrigo Gomez. You can find more of Rodrigo’s work here and here.
