Valencia, situated midway along the Mediterranean coast of Spain, is the birthplace of Paella.

It also happens to be the birthplace of a fine young surf photographer by the name of Alex Postigo.

Granted, in the grand scheme of things, at this stage in their respective careers, paella is probably of more importance to the ailing Spanish economy, and of greater cultural significance, and it is fucken tasty too . . . but it’s not a competition.

To the south of the city lies the British holiday-goer stronghold of Benidorm, to the north the cultural mecca of Barcelona, and dotted hither and thither in between the occasional wave that will make your hair curl, in a good way. Occasional being the operative word. The Mediterranean is nothing if not inconsistent and temperamental, which for Alex has meant numerous trips across the peninsula — to Spain’s Atlantic coast, over the border up into France — and plenty more further afield. His work has appeared in National Geographic in addition to a long list of surf mags, and he’s also an ambassador for the charity Kind Surf.

At just 25 years of age, he is already something of a master in the art of pointing a camera at pretty, pleasing waveforms and hitting the shutter. The results of this process can be seen below.

All captions by Alex Postigo. Follow him on Insty here, @thefrogeye.