It’s probably the most eye-catching image from the 2024 Olympics so far. I’m talking about the photo of Olympic surfer Gabriel Medina, which appears to literally show him floating in mid-air. Many assumed the image was generated by AI or a Photoshop trick. However, the striking image is completely real.

AFP photographer Jérôme Brouillet took the photo during the tube portion of the fifth heat of men’s surfing at Teahupo’o in Tahiti. This particular wave gave the Brazilian surfer his best score yet, and you can clearly see his elation in the photo. But how was it taken?

“The conditions were perfect, the waves were bigger than we expected,” said Brouillet, who was on a boat nearby capturing the action.

“So he (Medina) is at the back of the wave and I can’t see him, and then he pops up and I took four pictures and one of them was this one,” Brouillet said. The guard. “It wasn’t hard to get the shot. It was more about anticipating the moment and where Gabriel will start the wave.”

As with most photography, the best images come from a deep knowledge and understanding of the subject. And this clearly paid off for Brouillet. He knew one of the best waves was coming, and he also knew that Medina often celebrates his achievements in this way.

Brouillet automatically sent his footage from the camera to his editors and he explains how he was a little surprised by their reactions to the photo. “I just checked my phone during the six-minute break after the shoot and I had a lot of notifications on social media and I thought something happened with this shot and it got shared on ESPN and I thought, ‘Cool.'”

It really is a “cool” photo. The gravity defying position of both the surfer and the board gives it a surreal quality. However, you can see from the video footage that was taken at the time (sadly since deleted) that it’s all about perspective and literally capturing that split second of action and emotion. This is really what all great sports photography strives to achieve. We still have a few good weeks to go until the Paris Olympics. Hopefully there will be many more epic images to come!

(via the guardian)