In 2010 Sports Vision launched a nationwide campaign, on behalf of clients Relentless Energy Drink, to seek out the best International up and coming film directors within the Relentless communities of core action sports, motor sport and music. The campaign has continued into 2011, opening up to International territories and currently sits as the largest creative project for Relentless this year. The competition winner will receive a £10,000 cash prize and opportunity to further develop their filmmaking careers within the Relentless brand. The winner will also gain exposure through the company’s online media partnerships with You Tube and action sports network mpora.com.
Smith worked with Allan Wilson (director of photography) from the Astray Collective to present a side to surfing that few of us, as observers or surfers, will glimpse: the life of the photographer. What drives him to spend countless hours in cold and hostile waters in search of a single shot?
"I wanted to create something that would give insight into what it takes to grind out a living as a water-based photographer in the surfing industry," Smith explains, “to provide a short, experimental glimpse into life lived in the shadow of what is, for me, an obsessive pursuit.”
There is an interesting sub-text to the film, too. If your life is spent simply observing and documenting what you see, are you ever really present? It’s this willingness to go unnoticed, to hide in the shadows and sacrifice personal notoriety for the sake of one’s art, that remains a hallmark of the very best ‘watermen’. Mickey Smith is no exception.
