One Extraordinary (Olympic) Photo: Gregory Bull captures surfer battling waves in Tahiti

Gregory Bull takes a closer look at his AP photo of during the surfing competition in Tahiti.

Why this photo?

Vahine Fierro, who surfs for France , is a local hero in Tahiti, having grown up here. This punishing wave of Teahupo’o is her home break, and she surfs it fearlessly. She was in the middle of a tough heat against her French teammate Johanne Defay, and it was not going well for her. I was hoping to catch a bit of the frustration she seemed to be feeling as she kicked off another low-scoring wave during the heat.

HOW I MADE THIS PHOTO

I made this frame from a boat that sits on the shoulder of the wave, with a Sony a9III camera and 100-400mm lens. The light was pretty even, the sun had just gone back behind a cloud, and there was a great deal of mist from both the waves and wind.

Why this photo works

This photo gives you a sense of the frustration I sensed Fierro may have been feeling. She was struggling in the heat to find the sort of waves that would allow her to demonstrate her impressive skill level, and I feel like this photo helps capture that. The mist blowing off the wave gives the image a sort of texture that degrades the view, adding to the sense of haplessness.

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For more extraordinary AP photography, click here. For AP’s full coverage of the 2024 Paris Olympics, click here.