Doing ballet with the waves

EL ocean art photographer on success ride

GETTING into the sea as much as possible has been the driving force of Pierre de Villiers’s life since he was a teenager – but it was only when he turned 40 that he discovered his passion capturing the beauty of breaking waves with his camera.

The Vincent resident, who is the reigning South African grandmasters bodyboarding champion, grabs his waterproof camera and sprints into the sea before dawn to capture the glassy splendour of the ocean.

De Villiers, 43, has taken a beating by 10-foot waves and come too close for comfort to several sharks – but his “stoke” prevents fear from paralysing his shutter finger.

“The way to get the best shot is to put yourself in harm’s way,” he said. “I want to be in the cauldron – the heart of the breaking wave.”

The results are spectacular shots he calls “ocean art” and which are regularly published on Zigzag surfing magazine’s online site.

His captivating work is also sold as far afield as the UK and Portugal.

To capture the magic of the ocean’s colours changing from deep blue and amber to glittering aqua, he gets into the sea before sunrise.

“I do a ballet with the waves,” said De Villiers, a goldsmith who runs his business from his home studio when not immersed in the sea. His obsession was triggered three years ago when he was filming himself bodyboarding with a GoPro attached to the back of his board.

“The water was crystal clear and I could see the fish, so I took the camera off the board to take photos and when I saw the images on the laptop later, I thought ‘wow’. They looked professional.

“I had discovered my natural ability for photography.” De Villiers’s work has attracted an online following, with some of his extraordinary images going viral and others being selected for American surf art and photography site The Inertia.

A sequence featuring East London surfer Simon Fish at the base of a barrel and a small yellow plane flying in the bright blue sky overhead, was bought by Zigzag.

“It was their feature of the week and put me on the map,” said De Villiers, whose work is up at the Beach Break restaurant and who has also exhibited at Floradale Art Gallery. — barbarah@dispatch.co.za