domenic's tahiti

no.

010 Dom

enic’stahiti

A look At teAhupo’o, tAhiti through the lens of Domenic mosqueirA

he’s mexicAn-cAnADiAn, he’s cAnADiAn-mexicAn. He likes to eat burritos and play in the snow. He uses the terms

“eh” and “amigo” in the same sentence.

I could see Cheech and Chong singing

a song about our good friend Domenic

Mosqueira. And he would probably laugh

and sing along, beaming with joy.

Some photographers make a decent

living through pure skill, others make

it because of their connections with

A-grade pros and some make it because

of their marketing abilities. But I

don’t think I have ever seen someone,

until Domenic, make it in the surf

world because they have a heart of

gold and are basically the nicest,

most genuine human on the face of the

earth. Egos are a funny thing. They

can bring you your successes and your

failures. And maybe that’s why humble

Domenic is still somewhat unnoticed.

The fear of marketing himself and,

as he has said, “not wanting to buy

anyone.”

But we noticed him, and wanted to

celebrate this underground talent.

So we asked Domenic, who lives in

Tahiti now, if he could compile some

photos for us. As it turns out he

shot the entire Billabong Tahiti Pro,

and offered not only his photos but

his words, too. You can look forward

to many more of both in the future.

—Peter Taras

o n D o m e n i c

ALL PhoTogRAPhy AnD woRDs by

DoMEnIC MosquEIRA

T A H I T I

o f f E r S a

l o T m o r e

T H A n

j u S T T H E

S u r f . . .

06

Even though it has endless possibilities for waves, it also

has a rich native culture, embedded with great history from

famous sailors to artists, Cook to Gauguin etc. The amazing

backdrop of volcanic peaks and the clear, blue-water lagoons

offer so much to explore. The fishing and music and dancing

here is not to be missed. It is truly a beautiful place. I

moved here to avoid the hustle and bustle of city life (I

grew up in Mexico City), which is also why I love Tahiti:

a simpler living. But I also moved here for Teahupo’o. The

wave, lighting and people that surf it make for the most

memorable images and that is what keeps me here — the desire

to create new images that last, so you don’t just turn the

page.

I love the feeling of being in the water and shooting

surf. It offers a constantly changing frame of looking at

things. It challenges you not to just be good at one thing...

Yes, I love shooting “water” but I also know I have to be

a photojournalist and an artist in order to complete the

story. just one image is enough to awe, but surfing cannot

be held in just one way of being seen. I love my work and

all the jitters of knowing a big swell is on its way, the

nerves as I swim in to shoot fish eye, the joy of capturing

a great moment and, in the end, the simple pleasure of being

in the water. —Domenic mosqueira

07

nice perk during the comp: scaffs are put up for cameramen, so we get

to shoot from angles that you don’t get to see often. normally I walk out

onto the reef to get this view, but it’s much easier this way.

09

Landscape, eye candy and barrels galore, not a bad

place to sit and watch a comp.

floAting room only.

010

floAting room only.

011

John

012

John Florence.

013

Watching John John in the barrel is humbling. He has the ability to read it so well and look so calm in serious tubes. not an easy task to duplicate his talent and style, both unique and unmatched if you ask me.

014

Teahupo’o was offering some rights

during the billabong Pro — if you

dared. Josh Kerr, taking the dare

and the score.

016

was surfing so well in his heats, making it

out of the best waves Teahupo’o had to offer

this day.

Jeremyflores

019

Jeremy, showing his frustra-tion at the judging. From where i was sitting, i couldn’t agree more with him.

021

miguel Pupo: Drop in, stay deep and come out.022

That simple…for him. 023

cJ Hobgood, taking to the air. The surfers had to

pull every trick out of their bags to get through

inconsistent heats. but don’t let this fool you, this

was not a small section and it was over dry reef.

025

The nice part of being in the water shooting, is that you can get up close and personal.

Damien Hobgood, stroking hard to get priority.

027

DAmien

028

hobgooD

029

Lay-days, Aussie-style. Footy on the front lawn was a regular sight.

030

Came across one of sion Milosky’s old broken boards, a testament to

his charging on her out at Teahupo’o.

033

WAtching him surf this right

WAs AmAzing,

034

Josh Kerr.

he gets so high over the lip and

goes for it, every single time.

Merci, josh.

WAtching him surf this right

WAs AmAzing,

035

mustofa Jeksen might be the first Indonesian to surf Teahupo’o. he

took to it all too well. After having visa hassles and having to put up with

restricted travel dates during the comp period, he managed to snag some

nuggets... This is one of them.

036

Mustofa jeksen038

seeing Dorian out here without a death-defying

forecast. but still great to see him in a barrel

and training for that next huge swell.

A surprise

040

Dorian.

041

ace Buchan on a late afternoon gem. I was

actually swimming in at the end of this free

surf session and the west bowl just offered

up this parting gift.

043

Did I hear right,

not an expected sight to see Kelly beaten by a wildcard.

ricArDo got the score?

044

Gabriel medina was a wave catching machine

until he was stopped cold by john john.

046

mick Fanning on one of his many victory-bound rides.

048

mick.

050

Parko and his typically smooth

turns…but not enough to make it

past Mick.

053

mick Fanning

054

tropicAl...

059

domenic's tahiti

Documents

e n i ceditorialeditor

h i t i o f f e r s

o r e t h

easier t

humble domenic

n j u s t t h e s u

domenic mosqueira0708nice

good friend domenic