The Surfer’s Journal recently posted this clip on vimeo:
Vintage footage from late surf photography pioneer, Warren Bolster. Warren was a camera board developer as well as a renowned surf and skateboarding documentarian. He is featured in The Surfer’s Journal Masters of Surf Photography, Volume 3.
I’ve been lurking on Warren Bolster’s photos on the internets recently, getting to know more of his work, delving into it. So it was a surprise to run into the above clip. I really connect with Bolster’s proper fear of the ocean and waves. It’s interesting to hear a legendary surf photographer talking about their fear of the ocean. I have a similar fear, but I call it “a healthy respect”. I’ve always had this respect and when I’m being dragged down after taking one on the head, I often have visions of drowning.
My mom likes to tell a story, one which I have no recollection of, it goes something like this:
Back in like the late 70s, my mom, my sister and I were out in California visiting family (I grew up in NY). My sis was less than a year old and I was probably around two or three. We were at the beach, I think somewhere near Pebble Beach. I was playing in the shallows and moms was with my sister farther up the beach. A freak tsunami crept in and was starting to consume me. Mom was panicked and before she knew what was happening I was gone, underwater, and the tide line was quickly rising all the way up to where she was sitting. She no idea how to keep both of us from drowning. Just then, some bronzed surf god ran out of nowhere to the exact spot where I was playing, reached into the murky water and pulled me out by my long blonde hair and deposited me on to dry land. And before my mom could thank him, he disappeared. Mom likes to say it was “God” rescuing me (she’s not particularly religious) and even though I have no recollection of the event, I’m not sure if this is the cause for my deep respect of the turbulent ocean.
