Ron Church, California to Hawaii

First published in 2007 and now a rare collector’s item, photographer Ron Church’s California to Hawaii, 1960-1965 documents “the last moments of a small and innocent brand of west coast surf culture before it became swallowed up by today’s wave jockeying, plastic surfboards, and manufactured surf wear.” The book was co-published by T. Adler Books and Surfer’s Journal, and is now being reissued on June 30 in a deluxe edition:

In photographing his peers, Church preferred to paddle out with his waterproof equipment, shooting low to the water and far from shore. He was among the earliest photographers to take a professional interest in the sport from any angle. In order to assemble this volume, publisher Tom Adler scoured Church’s long-defunct proof sheet binders, maintained for decades by his widow. Provoked by their sheer volume, Adler selected the more offbeat moments from Church’s multi-image studies, piecing together an evocative, often moody collection. This new edition comes in a printed and numbered box.

To see a slideshow featuring seven of Church’s images, visit Nowness by clicking here. You can order the book through Artbook/DAP by clicking here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 20th, 2012 at 7:00 am. It is filed under Creative Culture, Surfing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.