Review

WL Rating

At the young age of 27, Ron Church had already made a name for himself as a jet test photographer (essentially shooting pictures while going Mach 2) and as a skilled underwater photographer. Church died young, at age 39, from a brain tumor. Fortunately for us, he left an extensive library of work including a treasure trove of photos taken during the early years of contest surfing.  Surf Contest is a thoughtful collection of these beautiful black and white photos, most of which were previously unpublished. Taken by Church while he attended various contests over a 2-3 year period, the images capture all the innocence and purity of the early surfing lifestyle. There are great crowd shots replete with bikini-clad girls and tanned, board short wearing guys. Also included are wonderful pictures of the surfers pre, during and post contest surf sessions. Unfortunately, like the Surfing San Onofre book, Surf Contest has neglected to include photo captions, which leaves you wondering where and when some of these photos take place. Regardless, the pictures are so good that you find yourself not caring as you wistfully flip from page to page. If you’re a fan of vintage surfing photos, then this is a good book to add to your collection.  (March 2010)

Surf Contest - Ron Church

Details

Category: Non-Fiction

Reading Style: Easy

Pages: 128

Pub Date: 2009

Tags: History Surfing