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Kiteworld's sharpest shooters pick out their best. Click on an image to see the image and caption or to begin the slideshow
 <br>CAPTION - Johann Civel freeriding in deep powder at the Lautaret Pass, France. If you were skiing or snowboarding in powder like this there would always be a danger of avalanche. There isn't with snowkiting
|  <br>CAPTION - Here's one of Chasta. Extreme freestyle, unhooked, one handed railey. It was during the last session of the 2007 winter at the end of April at Ecrins National Park, New Zealand
|  <br>CAPTION - Another one of Johann Civel in the backcountry at Lautaret in December 2006. The Pass was full of riders freestyling, so Johann and I headed off alone up into the mountains and had all the powder for ourselves
|  <br>CAPTION - Rainbow freestyle. Chasta in the Czech Republic at the Mushow event near Brno in January 2006.
|  <br>CAPTION - Dominik Zimmerman freeriding the backcountry at the Trois Evêchés Peak, Lautaret
|  <br>CAPTION - Chasta training during the French Championships in Lautaret, December 2007
|  <br>CAPTION - After arriving from Tahiti the day before, Chasta needed a quiet day's freeriding before all the activity at the Snowkitemasters in December 2007
|  <br>CAPTION - Chasta hitting up a secret spot we know near the main road at La Meije Peak. April 2007
|  <br>CAPTION - We saw this ice wave and Chasta rode it with a great surfing style. This shoot at the Hardangervidda in Norway in April 2005 is probably my best memory for freestyle
|  <br>CAPTION - Tom Bourdeau and Chasta cruising in the wide wild Haardangervidda backcountry in April 2005. The feeling of freedom doesn't get any stronger than this
|  <br>CAPTION - Tom Bourdeau and Laurent Benamon 4,100 metres up Mont-Blanc, Aiguille du Midi, October 2006. Snowkiting really gives us huge possibilities
|  <br>CAPTION - When snowboarders and skiers are cursing the 5/5 avalanche risks in the mountains, snowkiters are having sunset sessions slashing the wind-lips and flat powder at all kinds of snowfarms. Chasta leading the way in New Zealand, August 2007
|  <br>CAPTION - Matt Taggart on the Mount Hector Ridge, New Zealand, August 2007. An endless landscape that we could ride all day. We cruised everywhere. There were no boundaries and it was the kind of session we'd dreamt about for years and years before getting it
|  <br>CAPTION - I was filming video all day long and took only this shot just before leaving, and I guess it's my best photo from all my snowkiting work since the beginning. Chasta at the Bernina Pass, Switzerland, March 2007 |
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Where are you from?
I was born in Africa, grew up in Ivory Coast and now live in France.
Where do you live?
I live in the Alps near Grenoble, in the southeast of France.
How old are you?
I'm 51-years-old. I have three daughters and two grandsons.
How did you get into photography?
I was a teacher for 25 years, but I always wanted to do something different. I got into photography because the lifestyle seemed very appealing after meeting an Australian surfing photographer on our west coast. I've been very fond of creating images all my life.
When did you become a professional photographer?
In 1995, five years after getting into photography. I started teaching only part-time for two years, then I stopped for good!
When did you get into shooting kiting?
I spent 12 years as an international snowboarding photographer but then I got into kiting. I loved it from the start so I started to move my work to become more and more exclusively directed to snowkiting. It was hard in the beginning because I earned lots of money as a snowboarding photographer, and the kiting world doesn't provide as much money, but I'm in it for the lifestyle and I'm very lucky to be able to manage living as a full-time kiting photographer.
What was your first camera?
A normal Minolta reflex camera with a 28-105mm zoom.
What is your current camera set-up?
I try to have as little equipment as possible. I like to travel light all the time. I have a Canon EOS 1 D mark II with 17-35mm and 70-200mm zoom lenses. I would be much happier with a smaller camera and only one lens.
Can you remember the first shot you got published?
Yes, of course. It was a paragliding shot, taken while flying above a friend of mine here in the Alps. It was a cover shot but it was published with the name of another photographer as copyright...and of course, I've still not been paid for this front cover.
Which is your favourite ever shot?
Don't think that I'm pretentious with my answer, but so many shots have given me lots of wonderful memories, in paragliding, surfing, snowboarding, snowkiting and kitesurfing. So I will have to say that my favourite ever image is the one I'm preparing to shoot during my next session.
Who is your favourite rider to shoot with and why?
All the riders who spend some of their time helping me get the shots. A photo shoot is so hard for the kiters and the photographers. I know that they would much prefer to be kiting for fun, as do I!
Where is your favourite place to shoot and why?
Action on its own is not enough for a good shot. I need a nice landscape, too. My goal is to catch the action at the right place set within the landscape. My favourite place is everywhere a kiter can make huge action with a wonderful background.
What do you do in the summer when there is no snow?
Now that I'm Ozone's full-time photographer, I work with their kitesurfing and landkiting teams as well, so I'm lucky that I have endless work and I'm happy about that.
Do you have any advice for aspiring sports photographers?
Yes, in each sport you have to know what sort of angles and view have been already published in recent years. Look at the images in favour now and then create your own images one step ahead of everybody else. And of course, never give up ! |
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