Photo: Flame/SHACC
Since modern surfing’s earliest days, the sport has lent itself to being experienced visually. If not in person, through film or photography. Even the venue in which surfing happens – the sea – is arresting in photographs. No disrespect to baseball, basketball, or tennis, but nary another sport enjoys the level of innate beauty that surfing does – not to mention the scenic, often tropical, landscapes that often backdrop surf imagery.
It follows, then, that those in the business of cataloging the visuals of our aquatic pursuits – the sport’s blue-collar historians – are some of surfing’s most celebrated characters. And Larry “Flame” Moore of Surfing Magazine fame is certainly one of them.
When Flame passed in 2005, a group of friends created the Follow the Light Foundation in honor of the man’s legacy. Its primary purpose being to support up-and-coming photographers pursuing their art.
From 2006 to 2015, FTL in association with the Surfing Heritage and Cultural Center in San Clemente ran a grant program to do just that and over the years recipients of the award have gone on to become household names – think Chris Burkard, Todd Glaser, Ray Collins, and Morgan Maassen.
Larry “Flame” Moore is one of surfing’s most celebrated photographers. This image illustrates why. Photo: Larry “Flame” Moore/The Lost and Found Collection
After a few year hiatus, the Follow the Light grant program is back and contest organizers are calling the best under-25 surf photographers to submit their work for consideration.
“It’s an incredible honor for SHACC to be bringing back Follow the Light” said FTL committee chair Don Meek in a release. “Flame was responsible for launching so many careers and supporting so many talented young photographers. We’re beyond stoked to continue his legacy.”
According to SHACC, the winner will receive “a minimum $5,000 award and a working opportunity with supporting brand sponsors.” No word on who those supporting brands are just yet.
“It’s not easy to be a surf photographer today, but it’s vitally important to the sport and culture that it continues to be documented and celebrated through photography,” said Shawn Parkin, photo editor of The Surfer’s Journal, and former Follow the Light grant winner in the presser. “It’s exciting to see Follow the Light come back as a platform for young photographers to showcase their work and be recognized for it.”
The entry window will open on March 19 with a submission deadline of April 26. And the winner will be selected at an award ceremony on September 12 in Dana Point. Limited info available here with more details to come.
