Leroy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s

by Steve Barilotti, Leroy Grannis (Photographs), Jim Heimann (Editor)

At a time when surfing is more popular than ever, it's 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 1950s, taking America?and the world?by storm. Surfing became not just a sport, but a way of life, and the culture that surrounded it was admired and exported across the globe. One of the key image-makers from that period is LeRoy Grannis, a surfer since 1931, who began photographing the scene in California and Hawaii in the longboard Gidget era of the early 1960s. This collection, drawn from Grannis's personal archives, showcases an impressive selection of surf photographs?from the bliss of catching the perfect wave at San Onofre to dramatic wipeouts at Oahu's 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 stay closer to the action than other photographers of the time. Equally notable is his work covering an emerging surf lifestyle, from ?surfer stomps? and hoards 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 adolescence embodied the free-spirited nature of an era?a time before shortboards and celebrity endorsements, when surfing was at its bronzed best. This unlimited popular edition is for readers on a budget or who were unable to get their hands on the original limited Collector's Edition (it sold out in record time and copies were being resold for up to double of the retail price!) The photographer: LeRoy Grannis's initial foray into surfing began at age14 with a six-foot slab of pine, but it wasn't until the age of 42 that he picked up a camera and made a career out of it. Under doctor's orders to take up a hobby, Grannis built a darkroom in his garage and began shooting surfers at Hermosa Beach, selling prints for a buck apiece. His photos soon started appearing in many of the burgeoning surf magazines, and ""Photo: Grannis"" quickly became a hallmark of the California surf scene of the 1960s. Grannis is considered one of the most important documentarians of the sport, and was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame in 1966. The editor: Jim Heimann is Executive Editor for TASCHEN America in Los Angeles and the author of numerous books on architecture, popular culture, and Hollywood history. The author: Over the past decade working as Surfer magazine's globe-roaming editor at large, photojournalist Steve Barilotti has made it his business to document the sport, art, and lore of surfing. A lifelong surfer and fourth-generation Californian, Barilotti's passion for West Coast beach culture runs deep. His writing has also appeared in The Perfect Day and the books of renowned surf photographers Art Brewer and Ted Grambeau. Between trips, Steve lives in San Diego, California.

Genres: Photography, Art, Coffee Table Books, Sports

276 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2006

Reviews

[Duke Haney]

LeRoy Grannis, a pioneer surf photographer, died at the age of ninety-three earlier this year. This link displays some of his work (including a shot of the legendary Miki Dora at 0:39):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Dv3aV...

And here's another:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1fPs9...

Grannis got a late start. He didn't take up photography, which he did as a hobby to relieve the stress of working at Pacific Bell, until he was in his forties. He couldn't have chosen a more fortuitous moment: surfing at the time, the early sixties, was undergoing an explosion.

I've never been surfing in my life, but I'm fascinated by sixties surf culture, and this big, beautiful book is very affordable. Taschen is the greatest.

[James]

And now for something completely different...

This is one of the few coffee table books that can give you a rush of adrenalin just by flipping the page.

Leroy Grannis may not have been the sole architect of the late twentieth century surfing culture phenomenon, but he certainly was among the dozen or so people that projected the image of surfing beyond the enthusiasts to almost every nook and cranny of our globe. Kids in Omaha bought surfing-styled duds, listened to surfing music, and went to some really hideous Hollywood surfing movies. Grannis, and the publications that used his photography, took surfing away the beach and showed the landlocked how much fun they were missing.

Whether you lived the lifestyle, emulated the lifestyle, or just want to know how cultural trends can capture the imagination, this is a great book.

[Felix Hayman]

If you grew up in the 1960's near a beach and surfed then you have seen many of these photos in surf magazines and wondered how, why and when these were taken.Leroy Grannis was an enigma, not just in his everyday looking at the surfing world but as a person.In the 1980's he disappeared and has never been seen since. What a sad ending to a man who could take photographs better than his peers, or those who followed him.if you are a surf photographer get this book and learn from it.If you are, like me, a product of this era then these are wonderful memories never to be repeated

[G. Fox]

Before reading this book I didn't know too much about him or his work. Previously I've seen photos that I didn't know we're his. There are some great iconic pictures and some stories within, nothing to heavy wish it was a little deeper with story and some of his other pics. It seemed like a grab bag of his pics instead of a heavily curated selection.

[Vincent Eaton]

Pure nostalgia.