Kelly Slater and the monkey-on-the-back angle, France

Laurent Pujol is a former pro, born in France, educated in the US, who’s created the most elegant, if potentially disastrous, method of creating photos. Two surfers tow in. The surfer on the inside is padded-up and carries a water camera. They both take off, they both pull in, and a photograph is snatched in the mound of the tube. The photographer is invariably mauled by the wave. About this photo, which has appeared on Instagram already but is just so exotic it demands application on all forms, Laurent says: “I was at home trying to organise a session with one of the high-profile subjects in town and wasn’t having much luck, to say the least. Was getting kinda late and out of the blue, I get a text message. ‘What’s up, Laurent? It’s Kelly. Any waves around?’ I moved like a maniac to get all my gear together and got out there about an hour before dark. The waves dropped a little from the morning but we managed to ride a few. Kelly with his GoPro is one of the guys who inspired this angle.”