On August 28th 2011 Hurricane Irene made landfall over New York's Coney Island with winds at 65 mph. It hit New York City at 9 a.m. ET bringing with it a storm surge that sent 3½ feet of water into New York Harbor. Although downgraded to a tropical storm, it still flooded low-lying areas and left millions of homes without power all along the Eastern Seaboard.
 
Fascinated as I am by the Ocean, that afternoon I took a drive out to Jones Beach to shoot the surf. These are a study of the waves during high winds, but they are also a study of power and of contrasts – for while the wind whips the surface in this spray-heavy storm and vast swathes of water are forced to fold in on themselves there is, deep down, a sense of calm. A place where the ocean remains untouched.
Unlike me. I am in awe. While I take pictures, calmly framing each shot, the sight moves me beneath the surface in a way I can’t explain.
 
Perhaps that’s why I photograph it.