Surfing
Surfing
Join Michelle Des Bouillons’ voyage of discovery in Miles From Anywhere
In the latest instalment of Taking Off we meet Michelle Des Bouillons, a French surfer hell bent on getting to know the local community and heaving waves of the Western Australian desert.
The last time we heard from Brazilian-born, hard charging Frenchwoman Michelle Des Bouillons she was tackling Indonesia's Desert Point for the first time, as big as it breaks. Not only was it Michelle's maiden voyage to the Lombok Strait it was where she met award winning Aussie cinematographer Peter Baker, and it was from this encounter that the first seeds of the edit above were sewn.
Michelle Des Bouillons pulling in with a megawatt grin
© Peter Baker
Michelle Des Bouillons soaking up the desert heat
© Peter Baker
Michelle Des Bouillons perfectly perched at the desert left with no name
© Peter Baker
Michelle Des Bouillons eyeing off a desert racetrack
© Peter Baker
Peter has a storied body of work from the West Australian desert, having worked alongside legendary filmmaker Jack McCoy on a series of movies in the 1990s and 2000s, starring iconic surfers Mark Occhilupo, Kelly Slater, Tom Carroll and Sunny Garcia to name a few. Michelle's imagination was piqued by thoughts of making a pilgrimage to one of surfing's most hallowed corners, so plans were made and flights booked post-haste.
Imogen Caldwell tucks comfortably into the tube, not too far from her home
© Peter Baker
Cortney Brown and Imogen Caldwell looking right at home
© Peter Baker
North-western exposure
© Peter Baker
West Oz sunsets are a sight to behold
© Peter Baker
A few hours drive north of the world's most isolated capital city, Perth, Michelle met up with local power couple Imogen Caldwell and Cortney Brown. Two incredible surfers who excel when the swell gets serious, the pair refuse to leave the region they grew up in, no matter how many far-flung, exotic locations they're despatched to by sponsors. With the perfect hosts by her side – and a cameo appearance from local legend Ry Craike – and a string of powerful Indian Ocean swells inbound, it wasn't long until Michelle got what she came for.
Since the desert sessions were shot, Michelle has continued to step up her game in waves of consequence, both in Hawaii and at Nazaré in Portugal, where she bases herself for the northern winter. It's fair to say Michelle is at the vanguard of modern female tow surfing and her mission of self-discovery to a series of outback lefts-with-no-names surely helped set her on her course. Get comfortable, kick back and hit go on the player above to see Michelle tackle the road less travelled, Miles From Anywhere.
