Cesar Ancelle Hansen has been immersed in photography since his infancy. At the time his mother was an Artistic Director for major French media organizations. Issues of "LIFE" magazine stacked on his parents' reading table gave him the impetus and the will to do it himself.

Cesar began taking traditional pictures in his teenage years, before dedicating all his free-time to photography in 1996. A surfer himself, he is lured to the ocean everyday, either in Biarritz France, his current hometown, or on any beach in the world. His camera is never far away, ready to freeze moments of life - capture fragments of reality - to build his unique vision of the world.

Where do you live?
Biarritz, France.

Are you a pro or an amateur photographer?
Amateur.

What is your job?
I am a doctor.

You surf, when did you catch your first wave?
In Corsica, a small island in France in 1996 (thank you Daddy). It was with my brother, we shared an ugly bodyboard.

What is your local surf spot?
Biarritz, La Cote Des Basques. I surf there everyday if there are waves. It's also my number one spot for taking pictures.

So you're a real beach person?
Yes. I love the beach. I think it's an incredible place, where a lot of different people mix together, where you feel really free. I like the social exhibitionism side of it as well. It's such a scene: kids playing ball, old nudists (yes, in France it is allowed,) fat people drinking beer (yes, in France drinking on the beach is allowed as well.) Everybody is an element of a great stage, as much as the ocean and the swell.

You take pictures all over the world, where was your last trip?
New York City.

Not really a beach town!
I like taking pictures in beautiful beach landscapes, but also in the most filthy of places. New York is full of them. I try to make them look beautiful in my pictures. In general, I believe there are shots to be taken everywhere. Yet surfing is what fascinates me the most, because you can find everything in it: lights, action, elements. I recently learnt the definition of the oceanic feeling: it corresponds to the feeling of making one with the universe. This is the feeling I am looking for in photography and surf. You are on a wave or in a place; you feel good; you don't think about anything; you make one with the element. I am not a big fan of the Bodhi-style philosophy (RIP bro), but all that is true. Photography gives you the opportunity to immortalize a vision, but also a sensation, a feeling.

What is the purpose of art?
To me, it is simply to make myself and other people happy. Maybe also to give the world a better image, by idealizing it in one shot.

What matters the most to you?
My friends and my little family. I am father of a little boy named Noe and about to have my second child.