Every World Cup produces a lot of great pictures: Winners, exciting decisions, spectacular crashes and small dramas. What happens away from the spotlight sometimes gets a little lost amidst all the sporting highlights. Some pictures don't fit in with the stories that are supposed to be told, others are too special for the event reports.
But in John Carter, the PWA not only has one of the best water sports photographers in the world, but also a keen observer with an outstanding feel for special moments, perspectives and moods. Even after many years on tour, Carter is still able to take surprising pictures between the crashing pozo action and the Sylt washing machine.
"Showing the country and place well is a constant challenge"
This also includes his shoots with riders, who he stages with their equipment. JC is often the first at the spot in the morning and the last in the evening, locking up the crew containers and thus always capturing incredible moods and weather caprices. "It's not just about the action shots, it's everything together," he once described his work in a surf interview. "Making a whole out of it and showing the people, a country and a place well is a constant challenge and I enjoy it, at least as long as it works."
In 2024, many great landscape shots from Denmark stand out in particular. There was hardly any wind at the Junior World Cup in September, so Carter used his drone to capture the dreamlike landscape of Cold Hawaii. In addition, there are always extraordinary actions with riders, such as Yentel Caers' acrobatics or Balz Müller's gymnastics exercises.
Reason enough for us to pick out the best eye-catchers from the PWA archives at the end of the year. Thousands of images, from which we have compiled our favourites in the gallery above!
