LeRoy Grannis. Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s
40Edition: Multilingual (English, French, German)Availability: In StockLeRoy Grannis. Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s
40Catching the Perfect Wave
America’s most important surf photographer of the ’60s and ’70s
This edition brings back Grannis’s hair-raising, sold-out Collector’s Edition, curated from the photographer’s personal archives, to showcase his most vibrant work in a compact and affordable format—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 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 adolescence embodied the free-spirited nature of an era—a time before shortboards and celebrity endorsements, when surfing was at its bronzed best.
The photographer
LeRoy Grannis began surfing at age 14, 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 began shooting surfers at Hermosa Beach, 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. He died on February 3, 2011.
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. He has also written for The Perfect Day and books by renowned surf photographers Art Brewer and Ted Grambeau.
The editor
Jim Heimann is the Executive Editor for TASCHEN. A cultural anthropologist, historian, and an avid collector, he has authored numerous titles on architecture, pop culture, and the history of Los Angeles and Hollywood, including TASCHEN’s Surfing, Los Angeles. Portrait of a City, California Crazy, and the All-American Ads series.
LeRoy Grannis. Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s
Hardcover, 17 x 24 cm, 1.60 kg, 400 pagesISBN 978-3-8365-6679-7
Edition: Multilingual (English, French, German)4.6