Nothing is more peaceful than looking out over the ocean and hearing the crashing of the waves crack through the beach breeze… except for maybe this video. It brings you to the waves in an entirely new way. Australian photographer Chris Gurney dreamed up the concept for the film below a few years before he got lucky enough to have the opportunity to make it. His concept was radical: film a surf video without any surfers. Eventually, he got a wetsuit company to sponsor the film and bring his vision to life.
Gurney ended up with “Mining Gold,” a short film shot like a nature documentary. A tribute to the heavy slab waves in Western Australia, the film was shot from a helicopter but gives you the feeling you’re on the wave or hovering mere inches above it. Gurney described what filming from a chopper felt like in a recent interview with Surf Simply: “It’s pretty crazy to see up close. From the helicopter you realise how high some of the explosions from the waves go. You also get to see just how shallow the reef is when you’re looking down on it. Other than that, seeing how vast the area is and the geology it houses is very impressive.”
Watch the fruits of his labor below.
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