The New Zealand surf community lost a real treasure this weekend when Danny Carse passed away in Otago. Danny, the son of local surfboard shaper and Otago surfing kaitiaki, Graham Carse, also has extended family in Mahia. He blended his Mahia and Otago sides so seamlessly that surfing appeared to come almost without effort to Danny.
I first met him in 1998 – a cheeky teenage grommet who was already on the radar of the surfing world. I remember he and Felix Dickson pushing each other so hard. They were uncompromising as they started to stand on the toes of older surfers. In 2001 Danny was a pivotal surfer in the New Zealand Team which won the 2001 World Junior Surfing Title – a first for New Zealand.
He split his time between Sydney and Dunedin, surfing constantly and he seemed to just get better with every surf.
He had a hand in the Box of Light story also. He worked for me in 2010 helping me to launch my online photo library. We shared a wee office in the back of our house in St Clair and he always kept us laughing with his stream of consciousness comments. He once told my wife she was getting "so old", told me I was getting fat and I think he might have suggested there was something not quite right with our kids. That was all in one day and delivered with a smile that would always get him off the hook.
While working for me he always talked about getting me out shooting surfing, which he knew I loved. But with a young family and bills mounting constantly the surfing work never added up. Magazines were dying by then and surf photographers were going extinct. Danny left for work in Sydney and about 12 months later his idea finally found a foothold as we launched Box of Light. Ironically, with Danny living in Sydney most of the time, he never featured in Box of Light. I feel quite sad about that. I always thought Danny's story would be told one day in a big feature or short film. It was a project I had in my head and had it shelved for a time when we could really do it justice.
Danny always put on a brave and smiling face for me, usually delivered with a few good-natured jests. It was hard to tell that beneath the surface he was struggling. He will be missed by so many throughout New Zealand and the world who had the chance to trip around surfing with him, or just share a moment. Hold onto those memories. Check on your loved ones. Check on your friends and be there for each other when times are tough.
Mai i Whakahekerau ki Mahia. Ake, ake, ake.
See you in the waves ... Derek
PS We've been trying to launch a short film series on mental health among our surf community for the past few years and keep hitting a brick wall with NZ On Air. If you would like to see this project rise to the surface please get in touch. More than ever we feel these stories have to be shared.
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