Morgan Maassen photographs the biggest stars in surfing like they're his friends. And oftentimes, they are. The 23-year-old Santa Barbara, California native has earned himself recognition in the surf photography world with his loose and vibrant aesthetic that’s rich in color, motion and quiet intimacy.

The calm of his photos is surprising considering his usual work conditions. He works on sets, both commercial and editorial, that can be chaotic and crammed with people – athletes, drivers, caterers, handlers, personal assistants, public relations staff – all working in a tight space with their own array of deadlines.

“Photographers can get lost in the shuffle,” says Maassen.

Through this flurry of activity and agenda, Maassen has an uncanny ability to set himself apart. He finds the quiet nuances of character in some of the most recognizable faces in the surfing world, like the legendary Kelly Slater, which he attributes to, for lack of a better term, being human. He says he puts down the camera and takes time to converse and bond with the athletes and other subjects during travel and downtime. And then they become friends.

Maassen’s path to success, like many others', is a blend of hard work and serendipitous good fortune. The son of a fisherman, Maassen grew up surfing, spearfishing and boating in the waters of the Pacific. Once he developed an interest in photography as a teenager, it seemed like a natural fit to start photographing his surroundings.

After high school, Maassen says he didn’t have the money to attend a pricey school like Brooks Institute, but now celebrates what felt like an impediment as roundabout good fortune. He has a client list that most photographers would consider bargaining their soul for: Apple, Nike, Mini Cooper, Corona, etc.

“I would have done anything to go to Brooks when I was 17,” Maassen says. “In hindsight now, I’m so lucky that I didn’t go.”

He also partially credits social media as a conduit for his current status. As Maassen honed his photography skills, he developed a healthy (over 20,000) Instagram following online. One of his followers showed a photograph from his feed to his wife, who happened to be a marketing director at Billabong, the colossal surfboard maker and surf apparel company. And that was Maassen's "big break." He now spends three weeks of every month traveling the world to document surfing, surf culture and fashion.

“I try to bring my own style to it,” Maassen says. “I can only shoot photos that make me happy. I’d rather not do photography than take photos that don’t make me happy.”

Maassen uses the usual spread of digital gear, such as the Nikon D4, for his action sports work and minimal post-production in Photoshop. For the rest, he carries a humble array of camera equipment, much of which are hand-me-downs from the '60s and '70s; prime, manual focus lenses from his father; and an old Hasselblad with Chrome and Sonnar lenses.

For inspiration, Maassen looks to artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Jean Michel Basquiat and Ashley Bickerton. But he'd really like to get into filmmaking, citing Werner Hertzog, Darren Aronofsky and Gaspar Noe as his inspiration.

While Maassen loves surfing, and he loves photography, he's much more interested in the two on separate planes. The one constant is the ocean, which has always been a source of calm and inspiration for the young photographer.

“Shooting from the water is connecting all the dots of my life,” Maassen says.