adam, 2003
@catherine opie
project about surfers

In the portraits of surfers I did in 2004 that were
in that year's Whitney Biennial, I wasn't interested
in archetypes of pros catching big waves. Seventy
percent of surfing is sitting and waiting. It's about
fog and early morning light, high tide and June
gloom. It's about a sense of place and a community
based on identities. They are very specific. I did
these photographs of ice-fishing houses in
Minnesota — a temporary community that forms
for three months of the year, where people who can't
afford lakefront property can participate in the view
and the experience of the place. When you are in the
water waiting on your board, you could be a
high-powered lawyer or the stoner that lives in his van,
it no longer matters. In that time and place is a moment
of community that goes beyond the economy of the city.