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This was just a couple weeks ago in the Maldives on a day you could not even imagine surfing, let alone shooting. A crazy storm hit and the wind was howling cross-shore, ripping the waves to pieces. Of course our guests still wanted to surf, so rather than sit on the boat, I swam. Sometimes, my favorite shots are from the worst days so I guess it just shows that you’re always better off in the water! Photo: Richard Kotch
I never really wanted to be a surf photographer. I always appreciated it as an art form, and I greatly admired the photographers’ skills but was never really drawn to it myself. I have always been fascinated with conflict photography. Gritty, hard-hitting images from the world’s war zones that would stop and shock you. I would naively romanticize on disappearing into Central America, the mountains of Afghanistan, or the streets of Northern Ireland before reappearing months later with rolls of gnarly black and white images that would be run on the front pages of the world’s biggest newspapers to shock society into action for peace.
It never turned out that way and I have ended up living a quite idyllic life drifting between the Maldives, Indo and Micronesia with my beautiful wife Amy. I think you could say that I got lucky.
See more of Richard Kotch’s work at richardkotchphotography.com and the image that won him the #SpringFwd Instagram contest.