Editor’s Note: “Spot Snapshot” is a series that highlights an image and explains what you’d never know by simply looking at it. As the cliché goes, “a picture is worth 1000 words.” Here, a featured photographer brings you both.
The Collection Cave.
“The Collection Cave” came alive after a friend was in Papua New Guinea for business. He found the local kids were surfing on dug-out tree trunks, and gave them the old board that he was travelling with. Instantly, he was consumed by their excitement with a real surf board, so upon returning to Australia, he told me what happened and that he wanted to collect more boards to take over.
I immediately donated my own board, and put the word out to the Saltmotion subscriber list, inviting others to donate their boards. Suddenly, we had 200 boards, along with leg ropes and surf board bags. Somebody even called saying that their family owned a shipping company and they would donate the logistics to get the boards to PNG.
It was a massive show of support from the community at large for their generosity to our surfing neighbours. After I took the more conservative photos for the media, I bought 100 candles and tea lights and spent a few hours setting up for a photo in my own, more creative style. This photo was taken in the basement of Joel’s apartment.
