I want to thank you all for the “Keeping the Flame Alive” award you gave me. As I said last night, it was entirely unexpected and totally unnecessary. I am so proud of what you guys have done, and how important the awards have become. Whatever I did to contribute pales in comparison to the ongoing effort you all put in to continue it.

I have been on the sidelines of “the board” for the last couple years, contributing very little, and I went to the awards feeling a little self conscious about that. But when I got there, I realized that my lack of direct contact with the details has afforded me some perspective you might not have, having to wrestle with the problems and grit and hear all forms of feedback. So I want to tell you what I saw, zoomed out, as it were.

These little awards, as humble and small and quirky as they may seem, are so important to the lives of the people who they come in contact with. And it doesn’t begin or end with the people who actually get a check at the end of the night. You have created a life path for a very unique and under-represented group of passionate and artistic people. As so many of the photographers said last night, photography was the one thing they did well, and they just found it.

Finding photography, in itself, is a great thing. But how do you make a life out of it? How will anyone ever see your work? How can you possibly hope to earn a living when every device except the microwave now has a 15 megapixel camera built-in? And then, how do you answer the endless doubting questions from parents and relatives and significant others: Is “surf photography” even a profession?

Well, these awards provide a glimmer of light, the faint outlines of a way forward, and a way to make a life pursuing this odd niche of a niche that you are truly passionate about.

Before these awards, the fate of a budding surf photographer rested almost exclusively in the hands of the few photo editors at the various media outlets in our world. It’s a responsibility that Larry understood, and took very seriously. Today, independent of whether a photo editor or more senior photographer in our space is able to carve out a sliver of time to spend nurturing a newfound passion for shooting photos of surfing and surf culture, FTLF can also provide that guidance.

The simple act of requiring a young photographer who aspires to win the FTLF grant to put their work up for criticism, along with well crafted thoughts about the direction they want their love of photography to take them, can be enough to transform the rest of their life. For some of them, that might mean not pursuing surf photography. For others, like Todd and Chris, it is a springboard to the top of the pack. Both influences just as valid.

As icing on the cake, FTLF brings out into the light of day, and inspires camaraderie among, the fraternity of strange people who dedicate significant portions of their lives and earnings to pursuing the passion not of riding waves, but of observing them and capturing what they see with a camera. I was so excited to see how supportive all these young photographers are of each other.

I walked out of the room feeling a little funny about getting an award at all, and, of course, getting emotional when I received it. But as I drove home, I reflected on what Larry meant to my life, and how his influence, both in life and in death, has woven its way through my path, and I realized why I got choked up. (I think the trigger was the photo you guys ran of Larry’s paddle out -which Alexis and I woke up for and attended the day after our wedding.)

Larry was a stubborn and directed man, and it would be incorrect to say that everyone that came in contact loved him. But, as is often the case with great men, you only begin to unravel the depth of their influence and their generosity after they’re gone. Even today, as time has taken us far away from the moment of Larry’s passing, he continues to be an inspiration and guiding hand for his family, for young photographers, and for all of us. And what a good job he is doing.

Thank you guys.

Sincerely,
Ross and Alexis

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