Los Angeles’ Brent Broza has an eye for cool stuff. His lenses aren’t limited to waves or any one element for that matter. Whether it’s snapping last year’s WSL Big Wave award-winning shot of Aaron Gold at his old stomping grounds in Maui, or capturing portraits of Jack Johnson – whatever Broza thinks is cool turns into beautiful imagery.
Over the past seven years, Brent has thought abstract blurs are cool. Inspired by esteemed abstract expressionist works of Mark Rothko, he started to manipulate practices, churning out more interpretive photos. In experimentation with different lights and moods, he created the Serenity and Fireline series – an amalgamate of both the silky pastels of sunrise and the fervency of sunset. At showings, they are always mistaken for elaborate paintings. They are, in fact, not paintings.
Thousands of sunrises and sunsets have encapsulated Broza, and maybe thousands more will. A collaborative effort with Tyler Hatzikian has fixed his blurs onto a few 777 model surfboards, and while most are shot right out front of his Hermosa Beach digs, waves blurs have been snatched from Lanai, tree scapes are melded together in Medocino County, and he’ll often mix in the occasional cloud.
While Broza’s blurs are becoming their own entity, he’s probably out right now shooting away at something else insanely awesome – in the South Bay or overseas, who knows? Whether it’s abstract or traditional snaps, thank you, Brent, for your photographic ingenuity and for making our brains go absolutely haywire.
Note: If you want to see the “blurboards” up close, check out the RESIN show in Hermosa Beach from Sep 2-9th, and Brent’s photos will be displayed at Square Rhino Projects in Venice from Sep 30th – Oct 28th.
