Riders of the Storm Photo Winners Revealed

By Katie McFadden

As New York City’s only surfing beach, Rockaway brings in surfers from near and far to surf the waves, especially during hurricane season, and photographers trying to catch the action. WaveFrame and the SALTiWater Foundation recently teamed up to celebrate both of those things with a photo contest showcasing the “Riders of the Storm.” On Friday, December 13, they announced the winners.

With 86 submissions since the contest launched in August until it ended on October 15, the judges had a tough time picking the best of the best, but on Tuesday, December 10, WaveFrame announced the finalists, and on Friday, they revealed the big winners. In first place was Sarah Long’s “Calm in Chaos.” A surfer herself, Long said she opted to snap some shots instead of taking to the waves during the high hurricane surf, and it paid off, as she nabbed the $500 grand prize for her photo of surfer Chris rising above the horizon on a wave in Rockaway Beach on September 16. On October 9, surf photographer Aidan Murray caught his buddy flying on a wave in Belle Harbor, catching a captivating shot that earned him the second place $250 prize. Will Cavanaugh’s shot earned him first runner up and Zane Elias took second runner up, both winning $125.

The contest perfectly paired surfers and photographers, giving each a platform for some recognition, and it all started with the perfect pairing by Anthony Hagouel of WaveFrame, a platform that connects surfers, photographer and surf coaches, and Kwame LaBassiere, founder of SALTiWater Foundation, and a Rockaway surfer and instructor, who was looking for a way to honor his late mother, Simone Aline.

“Roughly two years ago, my mom passed away and she was the driving force behind my love of the ocean,” LaBassiere said. “She could not swim, but she would wade into the ocean with the four of us and try to teach us how to swim, and she put that love of the water into me. So, I was thinking about what I could try to do to keep her legacy going because my mother was an amazing woman and she loved watching me surf. When she was living in Dominica, I’d send her photos and one day someone took an amazing photo of me with a professional camera, zoomed in lens, and as I got out of the water, this guy came up to me and showed it to me and asked if I wanted it. I said, ‘How much do you want?’ He said he was good and asked me for my email. Of course, I had just come out of the water and didn’t have a pen, so I wrote it in the sand, and I went back out to surf. I wasn’t expecting him to email it to me, but he did, and I sent it to my mother, and she was so blown away by this shot. She showed it to all of the neighbors and said, ‘This is my son, I’m so proud, I’m so happy.’ She asked how much I paid for it, and I told her the guy just gave it to me, and she said, ‘Well I hope you at least bought him dinner because this kind of shot, this person used their skills and equipment and that was really nice of them to give it to you.’ All of that came to mind when I was trying to think of how to keep her legacy going.”

LaBassiere was just looking for the motivation to move forward with his plan. As fate would have it, Kwame met Anthony while working at NY Surf School and saw he had a camera on him. He brought up the idea of starting a photography contest. “Right away, Anthony said, ‘Oh my God, that is a great idea, I’ve been thinking of something like that. I would love if WaveFrame New York could collaborate with you on something like this.’” And soon after, the idea became reality.

“I started WaveFrame for the type of story that Kwame shared around surf photography and the impact it can have on surfers and photographers,” Hagouel said. “I’m a surfer myself and have seen multiple photographers out that I think caught the best wave of my life and the photo’s probably in some trash can somewhere. It’s so powerful to see us doing this sport that we love and learn from it and celebrate it, and for the photographers who are out there in all conditions, doing this thanklessly.” That sparked him to launch WaveFrame, giving surfers and photographers a platform to connect by sharing photos so surfers can identify themselves, and coaches a way to help surfers develop their skills, pointing out ways they can improve, based on the photos shared on the WaveFrame platform.

With the perfect team and plan in place, on August 15, in peak hurricane surf season, Hagouel and LaBassiere launched the “Riders of the Storm” contest, asking photographers to share their best hurricane season surf shots taken from then until October 15.

Not wanting to take on the tough job of judging the many quality submissions, Hagouel and LaBassiere enlisted the help of some of those with an eye for photography—Maria Riley, a local award-winning surf and nature photographer and writer, Najah Pursoo, a local portrait and lifestyle photographer, and James Petrozzello, a professional celebrity photographer. The guys asked if any of them planned on submitting photos to the contest, and when they said no, they asked if they could do the next best thing by serving as judges, and all three said yes.

With 86 submissions, Hagouel and LaBassiere said the competition was fierce, and they were grateful others had to deliberate the best of the best. “Thank God I was not a judge,” LaBassiere said. “I’m very happy the judges were able to come to a decision and help place the winners. I value every surf photograph that exists, and this was a hard one,” Hagouel said. Each photo, taken on the peninsula, was judged based on Technical Quality, Originality and Artistic Merit, and on Friday, the big winners were announced.

Hagouel and LaBassiere say they were pleased with how the contest went overall, and they’re already planning for next year’s contest. To keep posted, follow @waveframe_ny and @tribe_of_zen on Instagram and to utilize WaveFrame, check out: https://waveframe.app/