The Surf Category winner of the 2022 Monster Children Photo Competition was Rambo Estrada, who came all the way from Mt Maunganui on the North Island of New Zealand to attend the party and collect his giant novelty check. Sadly, the knucklehead who did the announcements at the photo comp party failed to throw to Rambo for a victory speech he’d prepared. Here is that speech:

I’ve been entering this photo competition every year for over a decade, but have never made final before. And each time, I always say fuck these fuckers and their motherfucking photo competition; I’m never entering this thing again (pause for laughter). But then the next year will roll around, and it’s such an epic photo competition, I can’t resist giving it a shot. This year I scrolled through all the other entries and really enjoyed checking out some unique images from some of my favorite photographers, and was also blown away by so many epic photos from photographers I’ve never heard of. The quality of work this year was amazing, and I’m honored to take the win. Thank you to Monster Children for not only running the best photo competition but also for doing such an amazing job of keeping print alive. The new photo annual looks unreal! And thank you to Roark for supporting the surf category. Cheers!

Isn’t that nice? We asked Rambo some questions about his new and improved post-win life.

Can you tell us a little more about the story behind your winning photo?

I’ve always thought if you were prepared to put in the miles, you could get good waves somewhere in New Zealand every day of the year. I wasn’t too sure if this was actually true, but with a 10-day window I thought I’d try out the theory, so I packed up my van and headed off on a solo road trip. Just to make life slightly more difficult I made a rule that I couldn’t hit the same spot twice. This was day 3 and I ended up at the bottom of the South Island. It was a pretty miserable day, cold and raining, but there were some crazy ones coming through. I ended up scoring good waves every day of the trip, day 3 wasn’t even the best of them, but this was definitely my favorite photo. (have attached a few other photos from the trip)

How do you plan to spend your prize money?

I already spent a chunk of it coming to Sydney for the party ha. I’m currently working on a camper conversion for my Land Rover Discovery and those things always take way longer and cost a fair bit more than you imagined, so I’ll just be opening the boot and pouring the remainder of the money in there. (Have attached a photo)

What have you been shooting at the moment?

Mostly lovely folks having the time of their life on their wedding day. (have attached photo)

Which photo of yours would you save from a burning building? 

I have a series of framed photos that I shot of my partner Elke on our first road trip together. They are my favorites on the wall, so I’d probably grab them. (have attached photos)

What do you like to do when you’re not shooting photos?

Definitely surfing. Specifically around the Northern Rovers NSW. I try and spend a good chunk of my winter each year in that zone. I’m obsessed with how stupidly cheap surfboards are in Aus so I’ll never pass a Cash Converters without stopping for a look at the sales rack. Last winter I scored an old Bourton bat tail quad for $15 and rode that around Lennox for a month before giving it away to some Balina frother. (have attached photos)

Any plans for 2023 that include your camera?

I have a project I’ve been hoping to execute. Documenting 12 months on the road in New Zealand and creating a book at the end. I’m hoping to kick that off sometime in 2023.

rambo-estrada.com