Royan: the pirate surfer, his son and the photographer, a visual account of a world silver medal

In November 2023, Royan native Ismaël Guilliorit won silver at the Parasurfing World Championship. The founder of Vagdespoir and his friend SergDady recount this trip to California in an exhibition.

On November 11, 2023, Ismaël Guilliorit-Nilsen, his full name, 45 years old at the time, with the shaggy beard of a Norwegian Viking, emerged from his final session in front of Huntington Beach, crowned vice-world parasurfing champion! "I had tried twice before, since 2015... I hoped to do as well by making it to the semi-finals." A failure. The "pirate surfer," as he likes to call himself, was unable to make a detour to San Diego to see friends. His qualification for the final "disrupted" his schedule. The president of Vagdespoir still laughs about it and will laugh about it for a long time.

This silver medal, from a sporting perspective, Ismaël Guilliorit barely dared to dream of it. He relishes it. Humanly, he also and above all sees a message in it, a story to share. "Just that of a son and his father who take a little trip, before the son grows up too much..." Not "only" the story of a father who was a subtibial amputee at birth, who played soccer with his prosthesis, revealed himself in surfing, and, with the Vagdespoir association, used his ability to bring disabled and able-bodied people together in pleasure and smiles, around board sports.

Adrien Lahaye also experienced this journey, the third member of this road trip along the Californian coast, all the way to Huntington Beach, south of Los Angeles. Photographer and surfer, "SergDady" had an eye for everything. "I love Adrien's uniqueness, his ability to capture emotions. I didn't want him to only take sports photos; I wanted something more sensitive. I asked him to capture everything there was to show! Nell, me, the people, the landscapes... I wanted people who discovered the exhibition to feel like they had been on the journey with us."

Because this trip is a thousand stories in one, a thousand images. "12,000, in fact," corrects SergDady. For example, this meeting with the legendary The Greek, Bob Bolen, 80 years old, renowned shaper, maker of unparalleled boards. Ismaël Guilliorit, boldly contacted him once he was there. "Do you have one of your boards to lend or rent to me…?" "The Greek" didn't find him one, but three boards, "including the very first example of his series of shorty boards aptly named The Greek! Bob Bolen brought it to my camper van at 10:30 p.m. the day before the final! And the next day, he came to see me surf!"

Another of those 12,000 images: his son Nell meticulously sweeping the mat leading to the water for the athletes. Nell puts her heart into it, earning her volunteer accreditation. "It opened the doors to the buffet for him. When I came out of the water after the final, delighted with my result, he was even happier that there was roast chicken on the menu! He brought me a piece." Cool, no-pressure, just like Dad.

The pirate-surfer has already spoken a lot about his disability. He continues to do so, with the same transparency and kindness. On Saturday, June 28, he was holding a lecture at the Palais des Congrès with the elected teenagers of the Royan Youth Municipal Council, in the middle of the "Partage" (1) exhibition, accompanied by his accomplice Adrien Lahaye. However, Ismaël Guilliorit does not see this exhibition recounting his trip to California as dealing with disability.

SergDady didn't just photograph a disabled athlete competing in a world parasurfing competition. He captured the moments of complicity between Nell and her bearded dad, he captured the special atmosphere of the East Coast of the United States, its gentle madness, its waves, its sunsets, its faces. Adrien Lahaye's eyes still sparkle with a thousand stars when he talks about it. "You might come across a guy dressed as Batman. And that's normal." In 140 still images, each one inhabited by their own life, thanks to SergDady's talent, the viewer is transported into this Californian universe and spends a few days with Nell, Ismaël, and Adrien in a camper van parked 10 meters from the beach.

"Ah, the camper van parked for free for seven days on the beach, this little privilege, I owe it again to an encounter," says Ismaël Guilliorit with a big smile. Being open to the world around us, near or far, to the human encounters that this openness allows, this is the message he tries to convey through the exhibition "Sharing," intended to be traveling.

(1) The 140 photographs are printed in large format. The exhibition is on display until Tuesday, July ^1st , at the Palais des Congrès in Royan. "Partage" will also be presented on Saturday, July 5th at the Shapers Club in Marennes.