“Hand Shaped” is a documentary photography project that dives deep into surf culture and connects with the individuals that create surfboards. Handmade surfboards are a specialty craft at this point in history. In an era of computer autonomy, it can seem inefficient and unnecessary to create with our hands. For many, shaping represents the freedom to build and ride any board one can imagine, and the satisfaction that comes along with every build. Shapers use fluorescent light, that is cut from the top and bottom to form a precise ray of light that reveals shapes hidden within surfboards that are invisible to the eye otherwise. I chose to take a step back, observe the unobserved, and portray the attention to detail that occurs without my presence becoming aware.
