When Ben Thouard was 19 years old, he landed on the island of Maui. He learned photography in Toulon before attending photography school in Paris, and he knew pretty early on that water was a subject he was interested in shooting.
He made a water housing for his camera and got started. It wasn’t long before he was published, and the journey to becoming one of the best water photographers in the world began. Over the next few years, he spent his time traveling the world, looking for photogenic landscapes and waves that had never been surfed before. One place in particular captured the essence of everything he loved: Tahiti. So, at 22, he decided to make it his home.
“I made Teahupo’o my backyard and my favorite place to shoot,” he explained. “Mesmerized by the many colors of my new home, I explored new ways of shooting by flying aboard my motorized paraglider.”
He’s an interesting man — so interesting that Morgan Maassen decided to make a film about him.
“Ben is a close friend and hero of mine,” Maassen wrote. “He’s a photographer who is constantly challenging his creativity and swimming ability at Teahupo’o, Tahiti. As Ben Thouard releases his latest book, Turbulences, I am proud to share this short film I made, documenting him through his creative process. Watching Ben work is akin to a Swiss watchmaker – there is so much precision in what he moves to capture, the end result is so finely tailored for the public in what he shares.”
Ben Thouard: Turbulences from Morgan Maassen on Vimeo.
