GRANNIS, Leroy. Surf Photography of the 1960s and 1970s.

Taschen, 2006. First edition. Oblong folio. Collectors issue limited to 1000 copies, (sold-out on publication), numbered, and signed by Leroy Grannis. A fabulous volume, drawn from Grannis’s personal archives, that 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. Grannis is considered one of the most important documentarians of the sport, and was inducted into the Surfing Hall of Fame in 1966. The present volume is considered one of the best embodiments of a profoundly influential American subculture. A fine copy housed in slipcase and publisher’s printed box.