Agence France-Press photographer Olivier Morin recently spent time with surfers on the beaches of Norway’s Lofoten Islands. Above the Arctic Circle, men and women were taking surf lessons in snowstorms on Unstad Beach, with air temperatures dropping to around 9 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 degrees Celsius). As day turned to night, some surfers stayed behind to witness the northern lights, with a few even venturing to paddleboard under the bright night skies. Morin photographed several days of surfing, capturing these beautiful scenes of sunshine, snowfall, surfing, sunsets, and the aurora borealis.
A surfer looks at the northern lights in Utakleiv, northern Norway, on the Lofoten Archipelago, within the Arctic Circle, on March 9, 2018.Myrtille Heissat from France rides a stand-up paddleboard under the northern lights in Unstad, Norway, on March 8, 2018.Surfboards lay on a beach before a surf lesson in Unstad on March 10, 2018, as the air temperature dropped to 9 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 degrees Celsius) and the ocean water temperature reached 39 degrees Fahrenheit (4 degrees Celsius).A young woman takes a quick dip in Unstad on March 11, 2018.A surfer puts his board away after a surfing session in Unstad on March 11, 2018.Emilie Klerud from Norway poses after a surf session on March 11, 2018, in Unstad.Surfers carry their surfboards as they leave the water under snowfall on March 11, 2018, in Norway’s Lofoten islands.Leela Krischna from India poses after a surf session on March 11, 2018, in Unstad.People attend a a surfing lesson on a beach in Unstad on March 11, 2018.A surfer carries her surfboard under snowfall in Unstad on March 11, 2018.Surfers enter the water during a surfing course on March 10, 2018, in Unstad, Norway.A surfer paddles out on March 10, 2018.A surfer rides waves under snowfall on March 11, 2018.A surfer rides a wave on March 10, 2018, in Unstad.An overhead shot of surfers waiting to catch a wave on March 10, 2018, in Unstad.A surfer paddles out on March 10, 2018.Riding a wave on March 10, 2018.A surfer rides a wave past the photographer on March 10, 2018.Overhead shot of a surfer riding a wave on March 10, 2018.Catching a wave on March 10, 2018.Surfers look at the water forming ice plates on March 5, 2018, in Henningsvaer, northern Norway.A surfer rides a wave on March 10, 2018.A surfer walks through beach stones as he leaves the water on March 10, 2018, in Unstad.A surfer rides a wave after a sudden snowfall on March 11, 2018, in Unstad.Surfing in Unstad on March 10, 2018.A man walks out of the water with his board under snowfall on March 11, 2018, in Unstad.A surfer carries his board out of the water on March 11, 2018.A surfer looks at the northern lights on March 9, 2018 in Utakleiv, northern Norway, Lofoten Islands.The northern lights glow above Utakleiv on March 9, 2018.Nils Nilsen, 26, an employee in a fishing factory, poses in front of arctic cod in Henningsvaer, in Norway’s Lofoten Islands, on March 6, 2018. Nilsen, a fishing factory employee, said: “Surfing to me is peace of mind, quiet inside my head. One focus, that’s it. Of course it’s challenging yourself, I guess. Whatever the season, if I have the time, I’m in the water. I have been to Portugal a couple of times, up and down the coast.”
