Tracey

Daytona Beach, FL

May 2025

I first met Tracey in an elevator at the hotel, surfboard in hand. We exchanged a few easy words, just a quick, friendly moment between two people heading out into the day.

The next morning I was on the beach with my camera, taking in the salt air and the sound of the waves. I hadn’t been to the ocean in years, and standing there with my feet in the sand felt both familiar and overdue. Out on the water, a surfer caught my attention, and I made a few frames as he moved across the break.

When he came up the beach, I realized it was the same person from the elevator. Tracey is based on the Gulf side of Florida and usually surfs there, but he mentioned the Atlantic had a bit more energy that morning, so he and a few friends paddled out before the day picked up. Friendly, humble, and quick to joke, he laughed about whether I’d caught any photos of him wiping out.

We reintroduced ourselves, and I asked if I could make his portrait before he headed off to get ready for the conference. It was a short exchange, but one of those moments where connection shows up naturally, two paths crossing beside the ocean at the start of a day.