This is the second installment in this series on many loves. It is about Surfing. Not many people know exactly why they surf. It just is what they do. Surfing gives a lot to the participant. It often gets to the point of seeming to be a greedy avocation. The more you get, the better you become at it, the more that it drives you. I have surfed all of my life. My Dad tossed me in a pool at 4. I swam. He then taught me to bodysurf. I never looked back. Only forward. It is still that way
William Orbit gets it. Click on this link if you want a soundtrack for this blog Had a gal come by yesterday who was working on a College thesis at Syracuse, and had asked if she could interview me about the changes that I had seen on the coast in my lifetime. Wound up talking about how, in spite of the ocean doing pretty well, (My homestretch of coast used to be littered with innumerable oil piers which were dark, pitch stained fingers, laying across the bright blue of surf lineups. They are all pretty much gone now. Removed.) that
This Song from John Lennon resonates with me. But not for the reasons one may at first surmise. For me the challenge is contained in the lyrics “So what have you done?” Doing, going, is what matters. A young woman making her way up the stairs of a very old Catholic Church in the cold of a Milwaukee Wisconsin night, tripped. It was Christmas Eve. She had been on her way to Midnight Mass, as was the tradition for many Catholics of the time. I was born sometime around 6 am the next morning. People always ask me if I
The image above is a tight shot of the crowd in the lineup at Pipeline one day a few seasons back. Pipe is located on the North Shore of the Island of Oahu. Generally, a lineup is a pretty near perfect example of a social and cultural hierarchy, and how those tend to stratify according to ability, dominance, and-or reputation. So surf breaks in a manner of speaking, are analogous to society at large in many ways. And just like in land based cultures, someone always seems to come along that no one gives credence to, who through persistence, talent
We don’t get seasons here in California in the classic sense, where each turn of the page has a huge and definite tone, as in latitudes further North or South. But in spite of a more balmy and temperate nature, we have certain aspects that Californians come to expect, each Fall. As the artist Robb Havassy and I sat with long time waterman, fisherman, and surfboard industry icon Reynolds Yater recently, I thought to ask Rennie about this Fall and whether he had ever seen anything like it? His answer? “Never” That said a lot to me. Weather is one
It is always the scarcity of a thing which imparts value in the perception of a viewing public, so artists tend to withold showing too much of their hand at once. I remember a photographer with whom I worked years ago, who would hoard his work, and release it one image at a time over the period of his career. His fame and fortune wound up being centered on approximately 9 great images. I do not think he saw the time we are in coming, where with new tech, and refined approaches, a higher bar for acquisition and communication than
The motivation for this piece began with the publication of the following story in the WSJ, to which I contributed an image of my girlfriend Donna Von Hoesslin. Read the comment section, post story, and you will see a diversity of opinions (including mine) that are quite revelatory about each person’s point of view regarding surfing. Those statements reveal everything about those people’s depth of involvement with the ocean. The commentary engaged me. I have always been a surfer. At four years of age I knew that goal was what my life would be about. To know the ocean, (and
Some people live in such a manner, that their exploits and attitudes define themselves, and become a part of History. It is fortunate to be around that type of person. You learn a lot. My fondest recollection of Jay Moriarty, is of him kick stalling in the barrel at Maverick’s, and smiling at me. A peculiar and unsettling memory, was getting a phone call informing me that he had died by drowning. I was driving South through Half Moon Bay, and looked up to see the Radar Tower at Pillar Point. The feeling of confusion I had felt when the
Water and air. Air and water. Blood to bone. Flesh of one’s own. The uninitiate fascinate over the sea and the creatures in it. But for a surfer, the relationship is one of kindred spirit. “Oh yes, that is”: insert marvelously made marine entity, referred to casually by those in the water tribe, in similar manner to someone whose house you wake up in each day, HERE. Dolphins live a life immersed. Yet linked to air, they have little issue being up and around in it. I see them fly a lot. No doubt exists, in spite of a lack
“How many shots did it take to acquire this one?” It is a good question. I hear it a lot. Here is how it works… Learn your craft. Buy the right camera and lens setup. Build-acquire the housing. Figure out optics in water. Watch weather. Select a swell, tide, surf break, weather pattern with the correct potential combination. Wake at 4 am, Prep your gear. Have a little coffee, but not too much because you do not want to pee in your wetsuit during morning feeding hour, and sharks feel the charge from your camera body and sometimes come for
This is the second installment in this series on many loves. It is about Surfing. Not many people know exactly why they surf. It just is what they do. Surfing gives a lot to the participant. It often gets to
William Orbit gets it. Click on this link if you want a soundtrack for this blog Had a gal come by yesterday who was working on a College thesis at Syracuse, and had asked if she could interview me about
This Song from John Lennon resonates with me. But not for the reasons one may at first surmise. For me the challenge is contained in the lyrics “So what have you done?” Doing, going, is what matters. A young woman
The image above is a tight shot of the crowd in the lineup at Pipeline one day a few seasons back. Pipe is located on the North Shore of the Island of Oahu. Generally, a lineup is a pretty near
We don’t get seasons here in California in the classic sense, where each turn of the page has a huge and definite tone, as in latitudes further North or South. But in spite of a more balmy and temperate nature,
It is always the scarcity of a thing which imparts value in the perception of a viewing public, so artists tend to withold showing too much of their hand at once. I remember a photographer with whom I worked years
The motivation for this piece began with the publication of the following story in the WSJ, to which I contributed an image of my girlfriend Donna Von Hoesslin. Read the comment section, post story, and you will see a diversity
Some people live in such a manner, that their exploits and attitudes define themselves, and become a part of History. It is fortunate to be around that type of person. You learn a lot. My fondest recollection of Jay Moriarty,
Water and air. Air and water. Blood to bone. Flesh of one’s own. The uninitiate fascinate over the sea and the creatures in it. But for a surfer, the relationship is one of kindred spirit. “Oh yes, that is”: insert
“How many shots did it take to acquire this one?” It is a good question. I hear it a lot. Here is how it works… Learn your craft. Buy the right camera and lens setup. Build-acquire the housing. Figure out