Bilder från Skäret i lördag

[openyoureyes]

Hello again and for the last time. This is a follow up to the exhortation that I flung out last night on Surfsverige on the ”Per…” strand where Per was directing traffic to his site that showed a bunch of pictures (30,40+) of a spot that I surf breaking OK. I went off. Nothing personal, I was just pissed off. Thanks Per for taking the pics off the Net!

Readers,

The internet allows opportunities to express and exchange ideas, information and other dogmatic crap (like that of Al Qaeda or my own for that matter) like never before.

The freedom of speech that this forum and site allows us is terrific. What would happen if the site were to become heavily filtered so as to allow only the worldview of it’s creators? The Editors of Surfsverige must be faced with difficult decisions as to whether or not to control the content of their members and guests. It comes down to Ethics. And because of culturally varying sets that are competing, that presents a tricky scenario.

I want to begin by referring readers to a film entitled ”The Far Shore”. If you haven’t seen it, pick it up. It’s dope. Kevin Naughton and Craig Peterson were two guys from California in the early 70s who spent something like 8 years on the road, supporting themselves, among other means, by photographing and writing articles for Surfer Magazine. The film by Greg Schell, uses a collage of their original 8mm, still photos and interviews from the present day to put into perspective the history of the times, their own story and the growth of surfing from rugged adventurer days to the beginning of the age of the ”surf camp”. The film embodies the spirit of adventure within the surf world that was at the time burgeoning. Personally, I find that same sense of adventure present in Sweden and Scandinavia as a whole today. I appreciate it and hope to enjoy it without altering it so that others may enjoy the same journey in years to come. There’s an American Indian expression about living like a cloud that passes over the land without altering that land. Of course, rain does fall and shape terrain, but you get the picture.

In ”The Far Shore” the question of ethics arises. A pretty hardcore vanguard of guys camped out in Mexican/ Central American surf nirvanas weren’t keen on having ”their” spots exposed by Surfer Magazine. ”They” were Americans, so it’s questionable if the spots were ”theirs” or those of future Mexican, Central American generations. (You can argue that they were neophyte colonizers and that a few of them are grumpy old bastards today blah balah balah) But whatever, small groups of individuals discovered – in the truest sense of the word DISCOVER- new spots and wanted to keep their wherabouts quiet. Naughton and Peterson were confronted with wanting to write about their travels, keep travelling and keep on the Surfer payroll or stopping their public Search that fueled the imaginations and dreams of everyone who picked up a copy of Surfer at the time. How could they share in an ethical way? By being conscious and considerate. They never named places, they kept evrything as undercover as they could. CONSCIOUS and CONSIDERATE! Surfer Magazine’s editors received death threats nevertheless. Exposing spots in the surfing world is an ethical NO NO!

In this case, the Swedish view of ”everyman’s rights” is an ethic that is being challenged by a more universal ethic within the surfing world of keeping things quiet. Is one more right than the other? If one is to measure the success of keeping things quiet by the number of surf camps and backpackers hostels in even the remotest corners of the world, I’d have to say…not really. But go to Central America or the Philippines today and ask some local to take you to their secret spot. For cash, they might. But would they show you the way if you had your damn camera dangling arouund your neck, telling them that you were going to post pictures on the Net for everyone in Sweden to see? Would they put a map on the Internet?

”Keeping it Quiet” means slowing things down. It means allowing people to take the time to enjoy things at a slower pace. Who is to be the arbiter of what ”right” is? Not me, but I will gladly be a participant in a conversation and share my views whether online, on the beach or in the water. I for one am not going to sit still and be quiet anymore about people coming to the beach and sharing with their 500 closest friends on Surfsverige, Riders or wherever. Everyone is welcome to surf wherever in my book, just keep your ”epic” sessions between yourselves and the one litlle seal that was out there on Saturday. We need to save Mølle, but inmy view, we also need to encourage a more sustainable growth of surfing around here so that the same stoke that we had yesterday can be had tomorrow without the presence of a few new guys each swell.

The surf media at the time of the Naughton/Peterson heyday was infinitely smaller and slower working than it is today. It was also less democratic. Surfsverige is the antithesis of the surf media at that time in surfing history. Surfsverige, like many other local sites around the world is the epitome of a highly democratic, user steered media outlet/ business. Yet the same ethical questions remain regarding exploitation. This past year Time magazine gave its Person of the Year award to ”YOU”. (its readers and people in general) Why? You Tube, My Space… our abilty to shape the world or perhaps our lives in some way by the internet tool. I am making my stand for ethics in this regard.

I am saying to Per, (thanks for taking the pics off) the girl with the video camera with the guy with the Varberg sticker on the back of his car, the others with big bad cameras and vidoes, the Nord guys (who are going to go back to Stockholm and show all their buddies their pics) and everyone else that comes to surf where we surf -and hopefully everywhere else in Sweden – that in my opinion your proliferating images/ film of good surf is not beneficial to anyone who surfs in Sweden in the near or long term. (Beneficial meaning that it doesn’t help an often crowded tense situation become less crowded and tense.) Recognize the power of the internet and like Stan Lee’s creation Peter Parker AKA – Spiderman had to learn, remember that ”with great power comes great responsability”

Don’t be a globally recognized surf kook and hide behind the Swedish ”everyman’s rights’ crap to distract people from or attempt to distort the obvious: We all want to surf in Peace with as few others in the water as possible.

Jah!

[mat]

ahah!!! Openyoureyes… vad bra att du ta fram här en gammal inlägg från 2003!!!! eller kanske tycker du att man pratar inte tillräckligt om Skäret just nu här och på surfsverige.se!!

/Mat

[perkele]

instämmer
har du inget bättre för dig?
gissar att du är dansk då du kan läsa svenska men skriver på engelska
ironi på hög nivå

jag tror vi har lärt oss en läxa nu, du kan andas din tölp

[kasimir]

Ingen dansk har någonsin skrivit så bra engelska, om det inte är en av Olsenbrothers kanske? nä säkert nån jävla engesman eller liknande. Tycker det är dags att införa lite regler på Steffo.

På många utländska forum är det enda tillåtna språket engelska, dags att införa svenska som det enda tillåtna på Steffo.

Jag har inga fördomar jag hatar alla!

[joecool]

förvånsvärt vad mycket töntar det finns som tar sig själva på allvar..

[niklas82]

Ni är juh makalösa, fattar inte hur ni orkar med ert ”subkultur” snack, som någon sa så har ni nog sett point break för många ggr.

fortsätt posta bilder mat, tycker det är mycket fina bilder och skiter fullständigt vart dom är tagna egentligen, även om alla vet.

[djevulen]

att skäret ska vara något”hemligt”det e väl lite konstigt,det var väl tio år sen det vågsurfades där i filmen home and away