Leroy Grannis: Birth of a Culture: 60s and '70s Surf Photography [Hardcover]

Steve Barilotti (Author), Jim Heimann (Editor), Leroy Grannis (Photographer)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 3822850691 | ISBN-13: 978-3822850695 | Publication Date: May 11, 2006 | Edition: Limited

Capturing the perfect wave: tapping into the archives of America's most important surf photographer of the ?60s and ?70s 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. Collector's edition limited to 1000 copies, numbered and signed by LeRoy Grannis

Editorial Reviews

Review

Mr. Grannis’s pictures are most startling because the scenes they record and breaks they document are pristinely beautiful -- New York Times, New York New York Times, New York New York Times, New York New York Times, New York June 1st 2006

Woodies were the ultimate surf wagons, guys rode redwood boards, those must have been the days. -- Transworld Surf Magazine, June 2006

a 13-by-16-inch oversized beauty called LeRoy Grannis: Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s. -- San Diego Union Tribune, San Diego June 2006

From the Publisher

Collector’s edition limited to 1000 copies, numbered and signed by LeRoy Grannis. 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 freespirited nature of an era—a time before shortboards and celebrity endorsements, when surfing was at its bronzed best.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 290 pages
• Publisher: Taschen; Limited edition (May 11, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822850691
• ISBN-13: 978-3822850695
• Product Dimensions: 18.4 x 14.4 x 2.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,683,778 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of a kind, July 28, 2006

By 

R. T. Weatherly (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Leroy Grannis: Birth of a Culture: 60s and '70s Surf Photography (Hardcover)

Okay, one of a thousand signed copies. This is one of those unique slices of time that Grannis almost stumbled into. Some of the best pictures seem very matter-of-fact, there's Corky Carrol, Hobie Alter, Lance Carsen, or Greg Noll..before anyone outside surfing knew their names. Grannis captures the surfshops of the 60's, the cars and beach scenes with this snapshot, family-like, intimacy, but you know you're looking at the incubation of an industry that will never be the same. A bargain at $400, but worth much more to those of us who witnessed the transition.