“A great American photographer used to say that ‘a photograph is not something you take, it’s something you make’. And this is why it is probably the most enchanting way to tell the stories of your life”. The words of Marcello, a close friend of mine and a major photography buff, were the first thing that came to my mind when I opened the small red bag from Kotsovolos, inside which was one of the most beautiful gifts I had ever gotten. “What could it possibly be?”, I had wondered – to discover moments later that hiding inside the bag was the exciting opportunity to explore the magic of the digital image, embodied in two of the best electronic devices that can be found on the shelves of an electronics store: the GoPro Hero3 & Black Edition Adventure camera and the Nikon D5300 Digital SLR with 18-55mm VR II shoot camera.
The idea filled me with enthusiasm! Up until now, I had never thought of capturing, in pictures, my own on-board experiences. A day at the sea has always been demanding and tedious for me but it also has the power to offer me piece of mind, as it is full of colorful moments and lots of energy: kids thirsty for long playing hours on the board, beginners who love windsurfing and are eager to discover its secrets, old students of mine, pro surfers now, who enjoy fighting the waves… And, even though for me words like “summer” and “sea” will always mean hard work, endless hours of windsurfing training and a disciplined daily program, I feel extremely lucky to be able to do for a living what I love most in life. Windsurfing is my life, not only because I have dedicated the greatest part of it to windsurfing, but mostly because windsurfing has been, more than once, the reason for me to discover aspects of myself I couldn’t imagine even existing. And now, capturing those moments on camera, right from the board, I can finally see them from without – but most importantly, I can share them with everybody!
This summer at the Tony Frey Windsurfing Club is full of stories that deserve to be told through the magic that digital narration adds to real life. And that is really something that I need to share with all of you!
Tony
