A Career of Magazine Covers
As a youngster, I could only dream of getting any of my photographs published within the confines of a surf magazine. That was my dream when I first started. I still remember Bruce Channon the then editor of Australian Surfing World telling me how important it was to use the right kind of film. I had just sent him some pictures that I had shot on regular print film like you used to take to the 1 hour photo joints. This film was not good enough for magazine use. That was when I started shooting on Slide film. Back then, it was all about Kodachrome 64 ASA film and the learning curve back then was super steep. I’d have to wait for up to 3 weeks to get my slide films back from Kodak. By that time, of course, most of the shooting details would have become a bit of a blur. Not like today where the photo AND all the information are at your fingertips.
I started taking pictures in 1977 and my work started getting published in the early ’80s. From that point, I never looked back. I lived, breathed, and photographed surf photography. It never ever felt like a job, such is the stoke that I get from my work. That’s what they say, right? “Do something that you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”.
My first magazine cover came in the form of the July 1987 cover of Aussie magazine, Tracks. A phenomenal carving photograph of John Shortis gouging the crap out of a wave at Manly Beach in Sydney.
John Shortis on the cover of Tracks, July 87 issue.
I quickly followed that up with the Oct 87 cover also of Tracks.
From that point, the covers continued to flow throughout my career as a magazine photographer. At last count, the collection amounted to more than 180 covers. I only know a handful of surf photographers who can even come close to that number. It’s ironic in a way because it’s just about impossible to get even just one cover these days.
This is Tony Ray surfing in Hawaii, on the cover of the April 2001 Tracks magazine. I photographed it from a chartered helicopter on the north shore of Oahu.
This is 2000 world champion surfer; Sunny Garcia deep inside a backdoor tube in Hawaii. This picture made three magazine covers and a large promotional poster.
This is Dingo Morrison surfing at Teahupoo in Tahiti, on the cover of Dec 2000 issue of Tracks magazine. Again, photographed from the killer perspective of a chartered helicopter.
I used to shoot very much, looking for that decisive moment that would catch the eye of an editor, looking for that last-minute cover-gem. These days, my shooting style has turned more towards an arty approach which suits me just fine. 😉
