Surfragette on Seadom Beachwear's blog

When the girls at Seadom Beachwear asked me if I could answer some questions about me and Surfragette for their blog, I was so stoked! Sometimes I have some difficulties opening myself to my readers all over the world, especially while sharing some of my experiences and fears about surfing and life in general. But I like when an interview can turn into a tool for exploring myself more and opening to people in a different and most honest way.

So, today I selected a few questions and answers I liked the most of Seadom interview. I hope you'll get to know more about myself and this little blog of mine. If you are interested, you can read the whole interview here.

Tell us about your relationship with the ocean.

I’ve never been a mermaid. Really, I’ve always enjoyed being in the water, but somehow I was scared too. I used to spend all my childhood and my teen age at my parents’ seaside house by the Mediterranean Sea. I loved it there (and I still do, every time I’m on visit)! Yet my relationship with the sea was always the love/hate kind.

Until I learned how to surf. It happened during a travel in Morocco and I completely fell in love! When I came back home, I kept on with this new passion of mine. I didn’t even imagine it was possible to surf in Italy! Little by little, I was able to face some of my fears and here I am now, following my dream to be living by the ocean. The ocean and I are still getting to know and respect each other, but most importantly, we are sharing some beautiful memories together. It has now become my happy place. I can completely be myself when I’m out there. I like the way the ocean can test you sometimes and judge your real intentions. It can change every time and you have to be prepared to face all its different moods – it is the metaphor of life.

What is your primary goal for the blog?

I think that the primary goal for Surfragette is to let other people know that you don’t need to be Alana Blanchard or have model features to be a kick-ass surfer. As long as you’re true to yourself and you have a good time in the water, you can be the best surfer in the world! I also like to share my fears, because opening up and being honest to other people will let them feel less lonely in this journey. Surfing is tough and can make us face some hard challenges sometimes. But this is what will make us stronger!

So, the idea behind the blog is to kick off most of the surfer-girl stereotypes that make people have a distorted idea of what female surfing is about.

I also love sharing about travels and other people experiences. We don’t have all the same relationship with the ocean and this amazing practice, so it’s good to get to know more about others’ stories.

In your blog, you mention some difficulty competing for waves against the boys. Any advice you can pass along?

Yes, I had some hard moments at the beginning to make people respect the fact that a girl (with a pink wetsuit) could actually catch the waves and surf in the same lineup as the guys. This pushed me to improve more and more and in the end I succeeded in winning my place in the lineup.

Some time ago I heard a fellow blogger telling that the guys should leave us some more waves in order to let us surf more. I completely disagree! We don’t need them to pity us. We should instead get the motivation from it and earn the respect we deserve in the water. Not because we are girls, but because we are good surfers!

The itw continues on dealing with other interesting topics such us my inspirations and dreams, the origins of Surfragette, my favorite post-surf meal and words of wisdom to pass along... You can read it on Seadom Beachwear's website or you can click here.

Thank you Seadom Beachwear and all of you guys for letting me share some bits of my life with you today! :)
xo



Credits // Author: Seadom Beachwear. Photography: Axel Piperno

Beach photography // Nicole from Beachradish

One day I was just checking my Instagram account when I found Beachradish's profile. There are a lot of photographers' accounts on IG, but this one was particularly interesting and I was suddenly caught.
Beachradish's style is a mix between beach life photography, blurry images, soft feelings... The eye behind the lens is Nicole - she describes her work as "impressionist photography" and she says that "her creative inspiration comes from the 'being human' experience we all share, the art of interpretation, and the beautiful coastal environment of southern California".
There are no better words to describe her works and I don't exaggerate when I call her an artist.

So, I was completely charmed and couldn't wait no more. I am so excited to post the interview she agreed to have with Surfragette!
I hope you enjoy it!

SURFRAGETTE: Hi Nicole! Thank you so much for sharing your story with Surfragette! What did it lead you to become a photographer? How did your journey start?

NICOLE: I’ve always enjoyed photography. My first camera was a Kodak Ektralite 10 camera - it carried 110 speed film .. the kind that looked like a dumbbell. I was probably 7 or so and took pictures of things that seven year old girls like to photograph.

In college I graduated to a 35mm Nikon FM2. This was given to me by a friend, along with a Time Life book, "Light and Film” that was originally published in 1971. I read, but mostly I played around - teaching myself concepts like exposure, f-stops, and film speed. You had to remember what was in your mind’s eye when you took a picture, remember the settings, and then wait for the film to be developed before you could decipher what the right combination might be for a given subject or ambient light. I used black and white film almost exclusively - and shot almost all landscapes. 

Along with half the photographers on the planet, I’d say Ansel Adams inspired me the most - you could always *hear* the stillness and serenity in his images. He didn’t just photograph places: there is something about his images that captures a timelessness of feeling. One image in particular, “The Scripps Pier”, is still one of my all time favorite images. Taken almost 50 years ago in 1966, it could be yesterday - two surfers walking on a sandy shore with a flock of seagulls combing the nearby shoreline. Only the downtown La Jolla skyline might suggest that it wasn’t yesterday.

S: Your photos have an interesting touch. How did your style grow and become Beachradish's signature?

N: About four years ago, I joined a group called 365project. I’d long since traded in the camera for other professional work - a mix of science, medicine, and business. I still took pictures of my friends ... their weddings, their first babies … but it was always a hobby. Joining 365project pushed me once again to pick up the camera everyday - I started to pause a little longer, walk the alleys in my home town, and talk to strangers. And I L O V E D it! 

If you haven’t read Alexandra Horowitz’s “On Looking: A Walker’s Guide to the Art of Observation”, please consider it. It is very much about awareness, being mindful, and appreciating your space through different  perspectives. 

What I realized with 365project was that I wanted more than the photograph - that crisp detail that so clearly defines a scene - I wanted more ambiguity, to distill the image down to a feeling. So that it wasn’t so much about the thing being photographed, but what it might feel like to be there, watching that scene. 

Even though I switched to digital about 10 years ago, I’ve always continued to use my DSLR the same way I would use my Nikon FM2 - full manual, paying close attention to exposure, ISO, aperture, and shutter speed … focusing, then de-focusing. My first “blurry” image was “One Watches” - I was focusing my lens, and as I passed through various stages of an unfocused image, I realized that there was distillation of feeling. No distraction from the details presented by an individual’s features, or clothing - just the essential elements: person, long board, sand, and a hint of water. Over exposed - a bright, marine-layer filled morning. 

It was near heresy when I posted it on 365project. Wan’t the point of photography to capture exquisite detail? To exactly reproduce the thing that you see? I’m after the feeling - the mood, the ambience. I decided detail distracted from feeling - I’ve been shooting a blurry image ever since!

S: Most of your photos have been taken by the shore. What is your relationship with the ocean and the beach?

N: Salt. Sand. Water. Add in an overcast morning. Our two dogs, Elvis & Milo. And a camera slung over my shoulder. This is a perfect morning. I used to be there every morning around 7am - earlier if catching the sunrise required it. It’s impossible for the day to be bad when you start it this way.

The ocean is my peace. It is my zen place. It is where I feel most grounded. There is a certain kind of person that gets up at the crack of dawn to take the dogs to the beach - and so there is camaraderie here, too. Familiar smiles and greetings for humans and dogs alike. The surfers who come here get that - it’s a local’s spot, for sure, but a welcoming one.

S: What are you inspired by while taking pictures? And what would you like to communicate to people?

N: Like most photographers (I think), I capture moments - mostly feelings. My favorite images are the ones that have an ambiance and a feel. Not everyone likes a blurry image. Photography purists seek crisp detail and perfect light.

I still take black and white images as well - images where the detail is part of the story, but the absence of color allows the viewer’s imagination to play. I guess this is what I hope people discover with my photography - that what they see in the images is more about their story, experience, and their feelings. The lack of detail creates an opening for the mind to fill it in with whatever they would like it to be.

S: Do you have any advice for young photographers who'd like to take their style outside the common standards?

N: Always be true to yourself and your style. Have courage. Experiment and play. SHARE your images. Follow other photographers whose work you admire, even if the style is different.

Thank you again Nicole for being here and sharing your experience with all of us. It's always a pleasure to chat with such interesting people like you!

Don't forget to visit Beachradish's website and Instagram account to learn more about Nicole and her works.



Credits // Author: Marta Tomasini and Nicole Boramanand. Photography: all credits to ©Beachradish Images

Interview: DELATO

Hi there! Today I'm really proud to introduce to you a friend of mine from Rome. His name is Matteo Piccoli and Surfragette has the pleasure to be the lucky FIRST to interview him about his brand new "DELATO boardshorts". As every Italian could understand, the name of this new brand refers to the expression "by [my] side". That's because these boardshorts are the brainchild of the need of being comfortable with style, while surfing.

Made for surfers by surfers.

Surfragette: Hi Matteo, please explain us the origins of your idea!

Matteo: I was in San Vincent two years ago, waiting to embark two days later to transfer a sailboat from there to Cartaghena. Seen a good swell coming from North, I decide to take a flight in the morning to go and catch some waves in the close Barbados, together with some friends who live there.

7am and I’m at the airport. Overbooked. I’ll wait for the evening flight.

Meanwhile I find myself along the street with my boards and bagage.

Get a cab and after 10 metres, the 60 year-old colored friend named “Bum Bum” asks me if I smoke.I say “Why not?” and in 8 clear seconds he rolls a joint of pure local ganja…“Nice…” I say… “Do you know any spot at North/West where you can do the sport of surfing? (The one without sail, to specify)”So, knacked, we leave through South in search of waves.Briefely, at a certain moment we find ourselves in a bay with an infinite right point called “Bia Bou Bay”.

Alone. In the water.

It was January the 9th of 2001.

S:   What is the concept behind “DeLato”? And who is it to?

M: What I said before is strictly linked to this question. I went in the water with a new board, a never used one, made by myself at the Virgin Islands for my ex girlfriend Flavia (so, it was already a special day).My joy, the super-sensibility of the day and, probably, my stonedness… and at a certain moment, when I was in the water, I started struggling irritated with my boardshort knot in the front, while paddling or sitting on my board. So, here DELATO has been born! I thought “I can make one by myself! So, I don’t have to get crazy to buy a simple and comfy boardshort, without all those huge and exaggerate written!!!”So, the boardshort is for all of the few (but I hope many) left who share my point of view: a simple product, without absurd pretensions, but with a comfort for all of whom love spending their days paddling (maybe also upstream), to catch another unique and unforgettable wave…
Clean, glassy and without hitches…

S:   Please explain us your passion for surfing. What does it represent to you?
M: I think it’s impossible to explain in words the sensation you feel from the very first moment you stand up on a board. Maybe just your sparkling eyes can tell that moment, that later on you go looking for and developing during the next days that the sea gives us as a present.I better stop here, otherwise I could get you bored with all my philosophical bullshits, the ones we are used to listen from our surf colleagues.Surf is simple:it’s health,it’s nature,it’s amazing when you’re alone or when you share it with your friends.

S:   Are there any surprises coming out? Can you reveal something?
M: You asking me if there’re any surprises?Clearly DELATO was born just recently and I hope that a lot of surprises are ready to take off… I’m not hurrying and I’ve always believed that a good idea, handled with passion, sooner or later can make it’s way.

Thank you so much Matteo to get us to know you and DELATO a little more. Best wishes for your future!

M.