Jeff Divine: 70s Surf Photographs - by Tom Adler & Evan Backes (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A colorful, insider portrait of '70s surf culture, with a foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Finnegan

If you were there, even just for some of it--Hawaii, California, surfing, the '70s--the memories and stories will flow freely from these photographs. Jeff Divine was there for all of it, and these images have been culled from an enormous personal archive. Divine was shooting for Surfer, the monthly magazine that was the bible of the scene. His photos from this archive show the precommercialized era in surfing when the hippie influence still held sway. Surfers had their own slang-infused language and were deep into a world of Mother Ocean, wilderness and a culture that mainstream society spurned. Surfboards were handmade in family garages, often made for a specific kind of wave or speed, for paddling, ease of turning, and featured all kinds of psychedelic designs. Some were even hollowed out to smuggle hash from Morocco.

The color and black-and-white photographs collected here, taken throughout California on the coastlines at Baja, Dana Point, Laguna Beach, La Jolla, Malibu, San Clemente and Oahu, give a vivid image of this close-knit culture and the incredible athletic feats of its heroes and heroines.

Raised in La Jolla, California, Jeff Divine (born 1950) started photographing the surfing world in 1966. He held jobs as photo editor for 35 years with Surfer magazine and Surfer's Journal. His works have been displayed worldwide in museums and galleries, as well as in books, magazines and media. In 2019 he was inducted into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame for his contribution to surf culture in a career lasting 50 years.

Review Quotes

Long before YouTube and Instagram, Jeff Divine's images could capture mood, athleticism and cool in a single image.-- "C Magazine"

Surfing isn't just sport: it has its own language, codes and culture. It's like sailing communities, historically, or skate culture today. It's often hard to explain it to outsiders..--Edward Siddons "Guardian"

Jeff Divine's images of surfers in Hawaii and California are sun-dappled paeans to a long-lost past, when hippies were cool, surfing was yet to "sell out, man" and boards were used as vessels in which to smuggle hash.--Emily Gosling "Elephant"

Taken in California and Hawaii, Divine captures the beginning of the surf scene in the 1970s, when he himself was a keen surfer and worked as photo editor for two of the sport's most esteemed magazines, Surfer and Surfer's Journal.--Belle Hutton "AnOther"

[a] colourful portrait of 1970s surf culture--Katy Cowan "Creative Boom"

Before commercialism and branding caught up with the sport, it was just about riding waves. A new book conveys the spirit of 70s surf culture--Julia Vitale "Airmail"

In Divine's sumptuous colour and black and white photographs, we join bands of teenage boys as they invent the culture and the sport that would soon take the world by storm.--Sara Rosen "AnOther"

Sun-drenched photos capture the golden age of surfing.--Oscar Holland "CNN"