The Red Bull Illume is an international photography contest showcasing the best of adventure and action sports. We’ve curated some of our favourite surf photos from the finalists.
Congratulations to Ben Thouard, who was the overall winner (out of 59,551 submitted images) of the Red Bull Illume Image Quest with this underwater image of Ace Buchan at Teahupo’o, Tahiti:
“This photo was shot during a free surf session right before the WCT event in Teahupo‘o. This is Ace Buchan kicking out from the barrel through the wave, a technique to escape a close-out wave. Luckily I was right below, breathless with my water-housing waiting for this moment and I was able to capture the whole sequence of it; this frame from the beginning of the sequence is the most powerful one because of the water around his face and body.”
Ben Thouard
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Curated by Andrew Couldwell on Apr 4, 2020
