A photo of Brazilian Olympic surfer Gabriel Medina, suspended in the air over a wave, went viral earlier this week. His index finger is pointed to the sky as he’s captured celebrating his recording-breaking 9.90 single-wave score in the fifth heat of the third round of men’s surfing on Monday. The 2024 Paris Olympics surfing competition is taking place on the French Polynesian island of Tahiti.
JEROME BROUILLET/AFP via Getty Images
The stunning photo had many people questioning whether it was too good to be true, and speculating about whether it was made by artificial intelligence or Photoshopped.
But Jerome Brouillet, the Agence France-Presse photographer who took the shot, explained that getting the picture was a mix of luck, expertise and preparation.
“I love this shot, for sure, because it’s special, and I think I will get only one shot like that in my entire life,” Brouillet said.
He told CBS News he had an idea of what Medina would do after a successful ride.
“Gabriel used to make this kind of gesture at the end of his surfing, when he catches a good wave,” Brouillet said.
“So, I was aiming somewhere on the wave, because you can miss the jump,” he said. “And, when I saw him, I pressed the button and I shot about six, seven shots. I was shooting 10 shots a second.”
“I looked at the shots, and I selected two photos,” he explained. “The second one was this shot because of the alignment of this gesture was special.”
The picture went viral as soon as it was published and Brouillet’s phone was flooded with notifications. Social media was abuzz with comments, including many that debunked the AI claims.
People were saying, “‘Look at the video here. You can see the line-up of the board on the video and the other side,'” he said.
Brouillet said he was surprised by how much attention this photo got since it is a celebratory photo, not a classic surfing shot. But he now realizes that the picture speaks to everyone and highlights the sport.
“If everyone is talking about surfing by a celebration shot, it’s perfect, and the surfing world is winning. We are all winning.”