Brazil-born Fred Pompermayer studied architecture in college but shortly after landing his first job as an architect he realized he wanted more out of life.

He was, he says, more interested in the structure of big ocean waves. He decided to put his passion for surfing and love for photography together and launch a new career shooting extreme action sports.

Today his images appear all over the world on magazine and book covers and in advertising campaigns. Over the past 13 years his work has been repeatedly nominated for the prestigious Big Wave Awards, and he’s brought the award home six times. Now based in El Segundo, California—“it’s a strategic location; you can find a last minute flight here to anywhere in the world,” he notes—Pompermeyer wanders the globe shooting for well known surfing brands and covering surfing events.

Among his favorite events to cover: the Titans of Mavericks big-wave surfing contest held at the legendary Maverick’s surf break near Half Moon Bay, CA, south of San Francisco. “It’s a very special place for me,” he says. “I have been covering it since the very start of my career. It's the true big-wave spot. It’s cold and scary — a sincere challenge for any big wave surfer. Last year we had a very unique season where the waves were consistent for two weeks straight and we had the biggest swell we have ever seen out there.  It was really exciting.”

Pompermayer is also a brand ambassador for a number of companies, including SanDisk, and this year he is serving as a judge of the SanDisk ”Share Your World” competition, which is held in partnership with the American Photography Open 2022 competition. (When you enter images into the AP Open contest, you can also enter them in the SanDisk competition by selecting the “Share Your World” category and following the instructions there. You can enter both competitions as many times as you wish.) Pompermayer recently spoke with PPD about what motivates him and what kinds of images inspire him.

“When I started shooting big waves, I was inspired by the challenge and the effort that it took both on me (to learn my craft) but on the surfers too,” he says. “There were no photographers specializing in this segment back then. Growing up, I lived far away from the ocean, and did not get to it a lot, but I was obsessed with it. I collected surf magazines and would cut out the best images and put them all over my room. These photos inspired me to travel and see everything for myself. Now, I try to capture impactful images that bring people emotions.  When I am out there I try to capture the power of the ocean with my perspective.

“These days,” he adds, “we are overwhelmed and overloaded with content, images and information. I am looking for something special and creative. It could be a technique, an interesting angle, or it could bring me emotion or be a difficult execution. All of those aspects of a photo really are exciting to me.  I am looking forward to seeing the submissions!"