A Poetic Touch In The Bitter North

Women’s surfing has come a long way of late; the women’s turns are near indistinguishable from many of the men, those giving it a nudge in solid waves has considerably increased, and just last week, the women have been granted equal prize money in all WSL organised events.  

Simply put, Easkey Britton is another anecdote at the forefront of this current swing. She learned to surf at four years old and has centralised her life around it since. 

She’s been nominated for a WSL Big Wave Award, a five-times Irish surfing champion, and was the catalyst for the first and only Iranian surf club.  

Outside of surfing, she has a PhD in Environment and Society, is an accomplished public speaker, and as her website bio eloquently puts it, “[is on a] quest to learn and create change in an often unfair world”. 

The above short, which won ‘Best Short Film’ at Shoreshots Surf Film Festival 2018, might be a little on the fruity side for many, but it’s still a brief and poetic insight into the woman that Easkey Britton is and a visual example of her amongst her much beloved Irish waters. 

‘For me, I feel cold water is the ultimate leveller. It strips us of all our pretence, stereotype or swagger. It breeds authenticity and trust. Gender lines blur and it becomes about our strength of character and willingness to embrace the unknown and build trust in each other. It takes us out of our comfort zone — We have to really want to be there, with nothing to prove, because the elements don’t care who we are, if we’re man or woman. Trust, patience, solitude, grit and resilience.’

Photography

@Kaineder