As the founder and editor-in-chief of Desillusion — the gorgeous magazine dedicated to people who grew up on a skate and surfboard — Sebastian Zanella has had the opportunity to tell the stories of countless purveyors of the sport and art world. Zanella’s filmmaking and photography have taken him to countless destinations around the globe with the likes of some of the biggest names, including Bruce Irons, Austyn Gillette, Jay Davies, Alana Blanchard, Alex Knost, Tyler Warren, Jack Freestone, and so many more.
While Zanella doubled his efforts to document a surf and skate culture that he saw as “in perdition,” over the last few years, he eventually took a step back to first evaluate what he had been shooting, and then meticulously compiled all of the photos that, to him, exuded a particular state of mind: melancholia.
“Melancholia is a suspended state where we can observe the world from a distance, as it is. Not too happy, not too sad, just as it is. A moment where we are struck by the immensity of what is in front of us, and our inability to change any of it. In a way a simple truthfulness of feelings that has always fascinated me.”
In his first ever published book, Wave Melancolia, Zanella presents 198-pages of photos that capture the lost moments between two actions, only pointing his lens on what matters in the end: those moments of extreme truthfulness where his hero finally gives in to his simple humanity. Zanella time and time again possesses an inherent knack for truly stylistic and emotive storytelling through his imagery.
“Wave Melancolia” is available via the Desillusion store. For more from Sebastion follow him on Instagram: @sebzanella.
