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Wade Goodall, an act of desperation, Tahiti

You wanna know something about desperation? You can’t blame a professional surfer with a taste for solid waves, for wanting very badly to qualify for the Billabong Pro, Tahiti. So, when you’re gifted a golden ticket into the trials, you do what you must. Even if one of surfing’s most dangerous waves is frustratingly small on the day the trials are held.

Take, for example, Wade Goodall here. Ever seen someone go right at Chopes? Or, better yet, ever seen someone go right at Chopes and throw a frontside roter? Stab guesses not. But, as Tahiti-based photog Domenic Mosqueira tells us, Wade’s act of bravery “says a lot about the conditions. Guys had to pull all kinds of tricks out of the bag to get through, but barrels still got the scores.”

Barrels still got the scores. And always will at Chopes. As it were, Wade didn’t do enough and the wildcards were given to Brazilian Ricardo Dos Santos and local Tahitian Alan Riou. Watch them take on the 34 in two days’ time.

Photographer profile

Domenic Mosqueira

Domenic Mosqueira is 34 years old. If you ask him what the best non-surf photo he’s ever shot is, he’ll tell you it was one taken in a womens prison. If you ask him what the best surf photo he’s ever shot is, he’ll tell you it was the cover of Stab, which featured Bruce Irons storming through a Chopes cave – blindfolded. Why? It was his first surf cover. And, because Chopes is his favourite place to shoot. His favourite-ever shot is a war portrait taken by James Nachtwey. He likes James Nachtwey, Diane Arbus, Dan Eldon, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and, for water, Russo. He wishes Scott Aichner was still in the game. His speciality is water photography. But the thing that drives Mr Mosqueira more than anything, is to capture an image that makes the viewer want to keep looking. A task he succeeds at, repeatedly.

More photos from Domenic Mosqueira