Jason Bolt

Salt & Surf // Carlsbad

By Lauren di Matteo

WRITTEN BY NICOLE BRAVO

I rise in the dark and after a short drive, find myself within view of the ceaseless foaming currents. Silently soaking in every moment of calm and quiet; my breathing slows as it finds its harmony with the rise and fall of the ocean. The deep blue sky begins to brighten and I know the sun is stirring from his slumber, soon to wake the surrounding cities. The waves call to me as wisps of hair blow in the breeze and traces of salt grace my lips. With deliberate steps, steady and slow, I make my way toward the shore.

“The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever.”

Jacques Cousteau

A most loyal friend and fellow creative, Jason Bolt, is a man with fiery passion and ever-increasing talents. While in Kenya a few years ago he set out to photograph the lives of orphans in various regions. Inspired by the impact those images had on stirring up the hearts of Americans to action, he started Lightify, a non-profit which seeks to build a community of artists to go forth using their craft to expose injustices throughout the world in every facet of life. Whether he’s out on the waves or shooting in the streets of Manila, he lives with distinct, fierce purpose and calls others to the same.

“From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.”

Jacques Cousteau

“Waves are not measured in feet and inches, they are measured in increments of fear.”

Buzzy Trent

“The creative act is a letting down of the net of human imagination into the ocean of chaos on which we are suspended, and the attempt to bring out of it ideas.”