Adam Moran Gallerie
Although he started out as a team manager for Burton Snowboards, Adam Moran’s focus quickly shifted to documenting the global explorations of some of the most influential riders on the planet. Moran looks back on a decade of iconic imagery while setting his sights towards the future.
Words: Joel Muzzey.
If a single image could sum up the current state of digital media, it would be something like that classic view of Half Dome with the back of somebody’s head in the foreground. Shot from behind, the person stares faceless into the distance wearing a cool backpack. Together, you share the view, super-inspired by nature. Is it an ad? Who cares? Double-tap. You’ve seen the same shot thousands of times before. From Iceland, even. And there’s nothing novel or particularly interesting about the photo, but, still, your impulse says “approve.”
In this golden dawn of selfie sticks and phones that shoot 4K footage, Instagram fame and #vanlife as an actual career move, many factors make survival as a “professional photographer” tougher and uglier than ever. In 2015, it goes against all odds that being a snowboard photographer is actually still a thing. But none of this seems to weigh on Adam Moran. Over the last decade, he’s become one of snowboarding’s most important photographers, and having spent the majority of that time chronicling the exploits of the Burton team, he’s worked with the worlds best and produced a mountain of outstanding images. Despite the forces conspiring against his craft, Adam is still out there chasing it…