‘The surfers were methodical and mesmerising’: Ed Templeton’s best phone picture

The US photographer watched on enviously as young people enjoyed the artificial wave in the centre of Munich

Ed Templeton had woken up in Zurich, Switzerland, that morning, but by the early afternoon he’d arrived by train in Germany. He was visiting the city of Munich, and after dropping his bags at a central hotel, he walked to the city’s Englischer Garten. “It’s one of the biggest parks in Europe,” he says, and home to the Eisbach river’s famous artificial wave. “The surfers follow unwritten rules based on respect that are fascinating to watch. They line up on either side of the river and take turns. When one surfer falls off the wave and is swept away in the current, another jumps on, and everyone cheers each other on. It’s methodical and quite mesmerising. It takes great skill to jump from the wall into the wave, and manoeuvre back and forth in such a narrow space.”

He took this image from a bridge, because “while the banks on either side of the river create a perfect amphitheatre to watch, it gets so packed, it’s tough to find an open spot”. Despite this, Templeton adds that “the spectators are very quiet, mostly watching in awe, so it’s quite peaceful and relaxing to find a perch in the shady forest”.