Taylor Steele
To say that Taylor Steele is simply a surf filmmaker is to miss the point. While he is certainly one of the key architects of the modern surf film and therefore high-performance surfing generally, he is at his essence a world traveler. Raised in the type of sleepy San Diego, California beach town that most never leave, Steele has spent his adult life abroad, whether on the road chasing swell with a cadre of the world’s best surfers, or sequestered with his small family in either Bali or Australia, where he has divided his time in recent years. Steele’s Sipping Jetstreams project, which highlights his love of documenting foreign cultures, is his own homage to the world of the full-immersion traveler, and while iconic surf films are undoubtedly in his future, his passion for exposing his vast audience to the cultures of the world as well as the waves, will serve to make him more and more relevant with time. 
Frame grabs – Castles in the Sky http://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/castles-in-the-sky/id372738388
Posted in Film, Places Tagged Castles, Iceland, Taylor Steele
Posted by: Taylor Steele
One of the locations for Castles in the Sky was India. On the first trip we were down south and consumed with finding surf that took us to some really off beat locations. It was an intense trip filled with arduous travel, a crazy car accident and very little time to embody the culture. These photos are from the 2nd part of that trip where we returned just to focus on the visuals and culture of India. Our good friends from surfingindia.net had taken care of us on our surf leg and now they were going to take us on a whirlwind trip through Rajasthan and the religious festival Kumbh Mela in Hardiwar that happens in full once every 12 years.
We were lucky to be able to come at this time. Rajasthan was a a great place to start as it’s one of the most colourful and culturally rich places I have ever seen. Next on to Hardiwar where it was great to be integrated into a time and place that means so much to people, specifically Hindus, who make pilgrimages from all over India to wash their sins away in the Gange river. It’s the largest religious gathering in the world, attended by millions and the energy is palpable. We jumped in the Ganges and you have to hold a chain concreted to the side to keep from washing away in the freezing rapids, and then submerge yourself as many times as
Posted by: Taylor Steele