Cult of the Surf Photographer

Don King and the rest of the water photography specialists worked their craft with the timing and precision of knife-throwers. King, at his best, was able to capture the epiglottic view from the back of the tube, behind the surfer, looking out toward daylight.

Surf publishing was a nonstop growth industry throughout the 1980s, with increased ad revenue, new titles, bigger issues, more color. The trend was worldwide but most obvious in America. In the late 1970s, Surfer and Surfing had both gone monthly, and the average issue size was just over a hundred pages. By 1988, both magazines were producing copies at Vogue-like two-hundred-plus pages, and circul...

Subscribe or Login

Plans start at $5, cancel anytimeTrouble logging-in? Contact us.