2021 Adventure Photographer of the Year, Ben Thouard

1st place Adventure Photographer of the Year

Ben Thouard French Polynesia

17°50´50” S 149°16´2” W

Matahi Drollet catches a wave known as Teahupoo in Tahiti. “For this photo, I wanted to translate the energy of waves like these,” says photographer Ben Thouard. “I used a slow shutter speed to create the motion blur effect, giving a sense of speed to the photo. Speed is key in surfing, but capturing that sense of speed in an image was a real challenge. I’ve shot so many images like this, but this is the best I’ve got! I call it ‘Full speed’.”