Amazing Abstract by a 16-year-old Surfer

Padang is one of West Sumatra’s districts where several beaches stretch beautifully. One of them is Pantai Air Manis. For landscape photographers, perhaps this beach can always give them magnificent scenes. What about for those who love abstract pictures?

Marrysa Tunjung Sari (Sasha), a photographer and a writer who loves poems, books, films, music and photography, has not only found what she wanted, but also a boy who could amazingly “distract” her hunting time on that beach. Sasha, who is very keen on poetic pictures, met a surfer who could give her a very strong intuition on what objects Sasha could make a capture. When she felt impressed on his instinctual sight, she finally lent him her camera. What could this 16-year-old local surfer probably do? Below is Sasha’s story, along with the boy’s amazing abstract pictures:

Photo by Haris

I met this boy, Haris. He is 16 and a surfer who lives near Pantai Air Manis. Though we met in only a short time, I was “in love” with him. How could I not? He aroused me with his strong and poetic angles.

Friday, June 13, I was having a surfing time on that beach when I suddenly met him and his friends by chance. My thought at that time was that he has a more-than-good surfing skill. Well, my opinion is not wrong, because he was the winner of Ripcurl’s surfing competition held in Pariaman. After done with surfing, I grabbed my camera and started to walk from one to the other side of the beach. And what was Haris doing? He walked behind me, and for one hour, he was giving a total attention to the way I photograph — either the woods and reefs.

Photo by Haris

Photo by Haris

The first question he asked me was, “What are you up to?” This question was unavoidable, and I began to explain him a little about detailed abstract photo. Right after that, he was so eagerly giving me direction to some spots where I could capture the objects I had just explained him. What surprised me was that he could very selectively determine what objects to shoot. Without so much hesitation, I gave him my camera. He was then “playing” with it. The result? Amazing!

Photo by Haris

Photo by Haris

The next day, when I went back to the beach to surf, Haris had been waiting for me. When I asked him why he did not surf, he said, “I am waiting for you. I want to shoot.” Yes, I lent him again my camera, and he began to walk to find objects. When he was so enthusiastically finding objects, the abstract ones, I asked him, “Why don’t you try to photograph people?” He said, “No, this one is beautiful.” I could say nothing.

All of his photos that I share you here were all captured by Haris’ own imagination; without me giving any manual. He was sometimes asking questions, but only when he found difficulties on exposure; of course, in his “language.” After all, if you ask me whether he knows what he shoots, the answer is ‘yes.’ He fully understands what he shot, because he has explained me every meaning behind every photo. Marrysa Tunjung Sari

Haris - Photo by Marrysa Tunjung Sari