Catching the Perfect Wave

Americas most important surf photographer of the 60s and 70s

At a time when surfing is more popular than ever, its fitting to look back at the years that brought the sport into the mainstream. Developed by Hawaiian Islanders over five centuries ago, surfing began to peak on the mainland in the 1950sbecomingnot just a sport, but a way of life, admired and exported across the globe. One of thekey image-makersfrom that period isLeRoy Grannis, a surfer since 1931, who began photographing the longboard era of the early 1960s in both California and Hawaii.

This edition brings back Granniss hair-raising, sold-out Collectors Edition,curated from the photographers personal archives, to showcase hismost vibrant workin a compact and affordable formatfrom the bliss of catching the perfect wave at San Onofre to dramatic wipeouts at Oahus famed North Shore.

An innovator in the field, Grannis suction-cupped a waterproof box to his board, enabling him to change film in the water and staycloser to the action than any other photographer of the time. He also covered the emerging surf lifestyle, from surfer stomps and hordes of fans at surf contests to board-laden woody station wagons along the Pacific Coast Highway. It is in these iconic images that a sport still in its adolescenceembodied the free-spirited nature of an eraa time before shortboards and celebrity endorsements, when surfing was at its bronzed best.