Surf Culture: Changes Captured in Photography

KPBS | By KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published July 12, 2007 at 9:41 AM PDT

This story was published more than 16 years ago.

The sport and culture of surfing has changed dramatically since the 1960's and surf photographer Jeff Divine has been around to capture it.

Surf Culture: Changes Captured in Photography

(Photo: Installation View, Oceanside Museum of Art / Michael Gross, 2007 )

Alison St John (Guest Host): Surfing in the 70s brings to mind images of long haired, carefree surfer dudes hanging out at the beach with their surfboards painted psychedelic hues, and of lone surfers careening down remote waves all by themselves.

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Things have changed in the past couple of decades. Surfing has become virtually an industry, and so popular that kids who have never seen the ocean are wearing surfer T-shirts. But Jeff Divine's exhibition of photographs at the Oceanside Museum of Art brings it all back to those early days of surfing on Oahu's North Shore, the massive waves, the laid back lifestyle and the amazing casual elegance of the culture.

The 70s: Surf Photography by Jeff Divine is currently on view at the Oceanside Museum of Art through September 2 ^nd.

Guest

Jeff Divine, photo editor of Surfer's Journal and held the same position at Surfer magazine for more than 20 years. He grew up in La Jolla, where he started photographing surfers in the 1960s.