Sea Light: The scene of Norwegian Cold Water Surf

Photos by Fjordlapse / Words by Petter Claesson

Verse 001 – Intro

Sea Light Verse 001 Intro

I visit an old friend, who lives with mountains by the sea. For him there was a reason moving here, to the west coast of Norway, and an idea of exploration and documentation. It is an endless conversation with a landscape of snowy mountains, deep fjords, wild sea, strong winds, dark forests, rainy days and aurora nights. The work never stops as long as time is changing. And on an island, on an empty beach, cold surfing is on. Weather and temperature waits for no one.

Verse 002

Sea Light Verse 002

Nature sometimes feels like an equilibrium, where success does not matter. As if we ask ourselves the wrong question. Or that we cannot grasp the full answer.

Verse 003

Sea Light Verse 003

You don’t really want me, but I always wanted you. Waiting, waiting, nothing. The sea is a giver. The sea is a taker. We push forward, leaving time behind. 

Verse 004

Sea Light Verse 004

Kicking off. Riding. Blinded and focused. Looking for what we cannot see. Sundown tickles the waves, keeping them alive while the burning light is warming faces and softening emotions. Purple water. Dusk. Hot hearted, cool watered. Light is never here to stay.

Verse 005

Sea Light Verse 005

Do what is good and leave all else behind. With our backs against the sky and our eyes on the sea, the light might stay.

Verse 006 

Sea Light Verse 006

Unfulfilled. Shouting desires do not fulfil them.

Verse 007

Sea Light Verse 007

Scattered clouds and a spectrum of pastel colors. Sea eagles nest on the mountain side. Islands are no longer hiding in the horizon. Waves begin where sea or sky don’t matter.

Verse 008

Sea Light Verse 008

It is a stand still. Wind without air in its eternal lung. Surface somewhere in between the self and shadow, between past and present. Learning to contemplate, when light is slowing down.

Verse 009

Sea Light Verse 009

Beneath it, invisible and silent.

Verse 010 

Sea Light Verse 010

The Norwegian sky is getting cold and another frost night is in the making. Everything is blank. Warming coffee on the beach. Sky makes space for the aurora, with no promise of the night. But it is all there.

Verse 011

Sea Light Verse 011

Images haunt us. The car rumbles down with headlights cutting through thick darkness following the dirt road. Unseen matters outside, we stop the car looking at light green standing sticks ripping the sky. A white beach in the night, heavy blue clouds and northern lights, dancing in front of our cameras. Naked and the sea. We haunt for images.

Verse 012 Outro

Sea Light Verse 012 Outro

Where do we go? Someone threw bulky rocks over the side of the bay, like dots against the petrol blue backdrop. Dead kelp on the beach, harvested in the storm. The Milky Way gives directions, throwing its white map over the sky. Can’t go home yet. A purpose without objective. Move on.


Surfers: Blake Sands, Rhodri Hardy, Robert Dolama, Anders Johansson