Windsurfing at the Burning Man
The Burning Man Festival (burningman.org) in the Nevada desert is one of the wackiest events on the planet. Art, party, light installations and extraordinary activities are not enough to describe Burning Man. Kevin Pritchard was there for the first time with his windskater: "Yeah, you're going windsurfing at Burning Man? Sounds like a far-fetched excuse to party your arse off. Beautiful girls, fat parties, sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Not so much rock'n'roll, say tonnes of EDM - electronic dance music. Burning Man is pure creativity. Many of the artists and support teams can only be described as mad scientists, spending immense amounts of time and energy to create something wild that people can climb on, ride along to, dance to or stare at for hours. You wouldn't believe how much time, money and brainpower they invest. The art projects, the party palaces, the lights, the sound systems, the infrastructure - there's really no way to describe it. Whatever you think Burning Man is, multiply it by a hundred and then multiply it by another hundred. I've never taught so many people to windsurf as I did at Burning Man in the desert."
Above the rooftops of Vienna
Max Matissek: "This photo became the main photo of my second project in the "True Wind" series. Here I try to windsurf in new, unusual places where it is not actually possible for one or more physical reasons. The action took place on the roof of one of the Alt-Erlaa blocks in Vienna's 23rd district. Fun side fact: For another shot, I climbed to the highest point of the building with my equipment and posed around a bit. After just five minutes, security staff were suddenly standing in front of our crew because they had received calls from concerned neighbours who thought someone was trying to throw themselves off the building."
In the urban canyons of L.A.
Max Matissek: "This shot was taken early in the morning in downtown L.A. on my last trip to the States. I was "surfing" down a street between skyscrapers with a surf skater. The feeling is really mega. The turns felt similar to bottom turns in wave surfing. I can only recommend it. You can find more pictures on my and Chiemsee's Instagram channel. "
Random art
Chance often produces the greatest artistic effects. Anne-Katrin Stevens was also surprised when she looked at the results from the GoPro at the masthead. You can't explain art.
Between icebergs in Iceland
Max Matissek: "Here I was surfing between two icebergs in the ice lagoon of the Jökulsárlón glacier while travelling in Iceland. The lagoon is connected to the sea. There was very little wind and the icebergs were cracking all the time and occasionally breaking off and turning. A mega experience."
Above the statues of Nusa Penida
Max Matissek: "Another photoshoot trip for Chiemsee. This time we were in Bali. The shot was taken off a small island called Nusa Penida. Normally the statues are well visited by tourists - not on this day because the current was so strong. Fortunately, there was the odd strong gust of wind, which helped me to surf over the statues."
This article first appeared in surf 4/2019
