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PHOTOs: Sergio Villalba
photography and words by
sergio villalba JAVI MUÑOZ (PACOTWO) cover photo by Sergio Villalba
“I tried to photograph the mysterious, true and magical soul of popular Spain in all its passion, love, humor, tenderness, rage, pain, in all its truth; and the fullest and most intense moments in the lives of these characters as simple as they are irresistible, with all their inner strength, as a personal challenge that gave me strength and understanding and in which I invested all my heart. “ — Cristina Garcia Rodero
“Every once in a while someone’s photography comes along that is so heartfelT THAT all you want to do is share it with the rest of the world. Faces of surfers we do not recognize, waves on mars, landscapes of prehistoric earth. Welcome to Javi MuÑoZ and Sergio Villaba’s vision of surfing.” —Pete Taras
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“I love visiting places where people don’t know what surfing is. I hate the ‘surf for the masses’ places.”
My name is Sergio. I’m 30 at the moment. I grew up in a small town in the south of Tenerife [Canary Islands, Spain]. As far as I can remember I always took photos. I started using my mum’s compact Minolta camera when I was a kid. Right now I’m on a plane, destination France, and that camera’s inside my bag over my head. Surfing was my obsession from an early age. There was something about the shape of the waves that really attracted me, so my main subjects were the waves first, the surfers later. There’s no romantic story about Hasselblad cameras or invaluable knowledge passing from dad to son. My dad still doesn’t really know what I do for a living. I moved to Barcelona when I was 19. Right after my parents got divorced the atmosphere at home was unbearable, so I left. I worked there providing imagery for three prestigious music clubs, as well as for a pre-press company retouching photos for the Spanish versions of National Geographic and Playboy. But even though I still consider that city my second home, I got really sick of it. I left and came back to my island where, little by little, I managed to get my own equipment and in a year was getting paid for shooting mainly surfing. Not much, but I knew I was on the right path. My last five years have been pretty hectic. I traveled to every single continent (last year I spent nine months abroad). I got some really well-paid assignments and also did some not-so-well-paid
but 100% worth it off-the-beaten-track trips to Oman, the Faroe Islands and Iceland (when it wasn’t such a famous coldwater destination). I did the first ever surf shoot in a studio with HMI lights on my island with some of the best surfers in the world. That got me the cover of STAB mag in Australia and put my photos on the walls of the Camera Club in Sydney. I never went to photography school because I always thought learning the biographies of guys who were dead was a waste of time. Later I realized I was wrong. There’s a lot of inspiration to be found in other artists’ work. I love Richard Avedon’s portraits, James Nachtwey and Reza’s war photography, Salgado’s photos of Africa and Manuel Outumuro’s fashion photos. It’s not easy to make money in the surf photo business nowadays, but yeah, it’s possible if you just take every single assignment, keep your rates as high as possible and work hard. Living off of photography is sometimes more social than technical. I love visiting places where people don’t know what surfing is. I hate the “surf for the masses” places. I only go to Hawaii if it’s for an assignment. I went to Victoria, Australia, and found it just too crowded. Loved Tasmania though. Loved Morocco and Oman and its endless right-handers. Loved Canada, the Faroe Islands, Scotland and Iceland. Don’t know why, but having been born in such a subtropical place like the Canary Islands, I feel really attracted to cold places. There’s
something magic about them. Near where I live there are a bunch of world-class waves that are only surfed by a bunch of locals. Most of them are my friends, but there are also a couple of waves where just a few guys surf and nobody takes photos. Believe me when I say that the North Shore of Tenerife is the most localized place on earth. Tenerife is where I am most of the time. There I shoot with the best surfers from the Canaries: Jonathan Gonzalez, Vilayta and Alex Zirke, who are two big-wave chargers, Alejandro Ruíz, Ale Díaz, Matías Hernández — I know these guys will be out there in any conditions and I’ve always felt good shooting with friends. Goals? Stay healthy so I can do this as long as possible. You can’t sleep two weeks in the desert, roofless, drinking hot water, unless you have good health. If I can do what I do for the rest of my life I’ll be happy. I love the life I have now. Pacotwo and I are working really hard on our agency as well [We Photo Agency — http://www.wephotoagency. com/]. I hope to keep growing as a company. To have enough work to share it with other up-andcoming professionals who deserve it. And to have two kids with my girlfriend and seeing them grow up. Stay by the sea and live in a quiet place. And give my kids a good education so they can be good human beings.
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“I definitely feel comfortable with the European crew. These past years I’ve been hanging out mostly with the Spanish ‘QS warriors.”
I’m Javi Muñoz, but I’m better known as “Pacotwo.” The nickname…it’s a long story. I’m 35 and I grew up in the Basque Country. I still remember the day a friend of mine came to the beach with a sponge that was some kind of a hybrid between a surfboard and a bodyboard. From that day I knew I wanted one of those. I started bodyboarding and years later moved on to surfing. I always wanted to be a journalist, actually. I still keep thousands of magazines that I started buying when I was a kid. Then I got a degree in Communications and joined my passion for surfing with my vocation. I bought a 35mm Minolta and started going to the best spots in my area. I was fortunate to connect with the people of Zarautz (thanks, guys) and step by step I started to get on the radar of the two main Spanish magazines, Surfer Rule and 3sesenta. I live in Hondarribia, a mellow fishing town in the Basque Country, which I highly recommend visiting. We have medieval buildings and colorful fishermen’s houses — pretty cool. It’s just on the border with France, so if I swim across a river, then I’m in France, and with the European Union we don’t need passports anymore here. Of course, if you want to work as a surf photographer, you gotta travel. I’m used to making two or three big trips per year but I also love to take little escapes through Europe when there’s a good forecast. I’ve been all over Europe, the
US, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Morocco, South Africa, Namibia…but if there’s a place I can’t miss every winter it’s the Canary Islands. I’ve been there more than 20 times. When I’m at home I shoot the area between Mundaka and Hossegor. Zarautz is always a good place to take photos when the sandbanks are good. The level of surfing there is the best in Spain by far. I definitely feel comfortable with the European crew. These past years I’ve been hanging out mostly with the Spanish ‘QS warriors (Aritz, Hodei, Jonathan and Gony), but also with freesurfers like Indar Unanue or Pablo Gutierrez and the young guns from my area. Lately I’ve made a couple of trips with Frenchies, Dutch…and it’s been so cool. Actually, all the European surfers are like a big family. I read pretty much all the surf magazines from Europe and the US, and some Aussie ones when I get the chance to find them. I’m also very interested in the design side, and I think that a good layout makes big differences between magazines. I love mags like Wallpaper or some Aussie bodyboard mags that are very inspiring in that sense. People always tell you how lucky you are, working on the beach and traveling to so many countries, but the truth is it’s often not as nice as it looks. Nobody gets rich with surf photography — and I really don’t mind that much, but often you have to deal with factors like sharp reefs, sharks, or long walks with all your gear, and that’s not
easy. The last five years have been key in deciding whether the tradeoff is really worth it to engage in this. There are months in which we make very little money; there’s even the possibility of losing money. Many taxes, fuel, equipment, etc. But then there are months when things go well, and that’s when those losses are offset.
Traditional festival in Tenerife, Canaries. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
EDITORIAL Editor in Chief
Taylor Paul
Managing Editor
stuart cornuelle
Associate Editor
Beau Flemister
Photo Editor
peter taras
Associate Photo Editor
jimmy wilson
Art Director
chato aganza
Guest Artist
Jamie Parkhurst
Online Editor
jason miller
photography by sergio villalba and Pacotwo
Offshore winds push the smell of sardines from a factory in Peniche. Aritz Aranburu, loving it. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Aritz Aranburu, north of London, south of Iceland. PHOTO: Pacotwo
San Sebastian in summer is a mixture of sun, chefs, shorebreak, hungover chicks and local pros like Borja Agote. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Alex Knost at the Duct Tape Invitational in Salinas. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Zarautz sunset. PHOTOs: Pacotwo
The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao is worth a visit. The building itself is a piece of art. PHOTO: Pacotwo
“I don’t really have a specific goal, just try to be happy every day, and the surf photography is pretty key for that. I basically like going to surf with my friends, then having some dinner and a couple of drinks in the bars. There’s a really good nighttime vibe in places like San Sebastian and Zarautz. I love the simple life.” —Pacotwo
Indar Unanue with a fiesta look. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Postcard from Hossegor. PHOTO: Pacotwo
(left) Jonathan Gonzalez loves surfing at home in the Canaries more than anyone. PHOTO: Pacotwo
(above) No caption needed when you have a dusty window. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Scotland yard. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Cesar Vargas at Risco de Famara, Lanzarote. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Julian Wilson during the first surfing studio session. Kai Neville’s on the crane filming for Lost Atlas. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Bereniรง and the pilot whale. The Atlantic. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
The end of the road. Faroe Islands. Probably the most stunning place on earth. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Gony Zubizarreta enjoying the good life in southern Spain. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Eneko Acero spends lots of his time in the barrel at Mundaka. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Sunset in San Sebastian. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Hodei Collazo, forgetting the craziness of the ‘QS tour in Andalucía. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Pat G. and Gabe Kling chatting with Alba and Adur. PHOTO: Pacotwo
The winter is hard but also fun in France. PHOTO: Pacotwo
“I moved to Barcelona when I
was 19. Right after my parents got divorced the atmosphere at home was unbearable, so I left. I worked there providing imagery to three prestigious music clubs, as well as for a pre-press company retouching photos for the Spanish versions of National Geographic and Pl ayboy.”—Sergio Vill alba
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Frenchman Romain Laulhe, barreled in Scotland. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Indar Unanue after our first surf in Iceland. 2007. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Faroe Islands. 2008. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
El Quemao is the European version of Pipe. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Christophe Allary, Faroe Islands. As far as we know this wave had never been surfed before. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Another cold place: The Scottish Highlands. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Herr Nico Von Rupp. Scotland. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Hector Menendez jumping off a cliff near Ericeira, Portugal. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
CUTTING THE PERCEPTIVE BOUNDARIES IN TENERIFE. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Hector Menendez in NYC during a Nike 6.0 trip. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Zarautz is home to a bunch of the best Spanish surfers, and also owns a few dead railways. Or maybe not so dead. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
La Palma Island. Shot for the cover of the Canary Islands’ main bank’s 2009 calendar. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Adam Melling and the huge white screen. Siam Park. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Kolohe Andino. Siam Park. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Kepa Acero Riding My favorite wave on earth. I shot fisheye that day and left all my equipment on land. Nobody Was around. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
A Brutal wave in a cold, cold place. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
Jaime Azpiroz works at Pukas Surfboards and surfs in front of his neighborhood in San Sebastian. PHOTO: Pacotwo
A Lake pouring fresh water into the North Atlantic. My scariest heli ride so far. Faroe Islands. PHOTO: Sergio Villalba
The Azores islands have some stunning scenery. Iker Fuentes. PHOTO: Pacotwo
Bakio is a good place to surf on Sundays. PHOTO: Pacotwo
gracias por
flipp