Contributing Sponsors
Photographers and graphic artist that have supported the SWoF with their talent
BOBBY ZEE (Photographer)
Bobby grew up in the California South Bay area of Torrance/Lomita. He attended three years of college to study architecture and photography. In the US Army and served in the US Corps of Engineers in Vietnam. This is where Bobby took an interest in photography. Bobby began shooting the terrain and the local villagers. This experience impacted Bobby to pursue his passion for photography.
In 1976, Bobby moved to Orange County. He quickly found his passion for surfing photography. He began shooting surfers from Rincon to San Diego.
Bobby has been shooting various Surfing Contests on the Southside of the Huntington Beach Pier: US Open of Surfing, NSSA, S.U.P. (stand up paddle-board), and the 70’s Surfing Sessions, etc….
Bobby has been honored by having his Surfing Photography published in various magazines (Ghetto Juice Magazine, Huntington Beach Culture, and Branded Advertising Campaigns). He has also been involved with several organizations such as: Huntington Beach Art Center and the International Surfing Museum. Bobby is a founding Member of the Global Photographer’s Services (GPS) Organization.
Photo courtesy of Lew Harrison
CINDY LOVE (Graphic Designer)
Cindy has been a contributor to the Surfing Walk of Fame since it's conception in 1994. Cindy is the creative talent that designs and produces the Surfing Walk of Fame Induction program along with Peter "PT" Townend. Her commitment has always been to create the program every year with excellent results. She also is an art instructor at University of Irvine.
Photo: Brad Romano
HEATHER McGRATH (Photographer)
Adrenaline is an intricate part of Heather's creative process to make timeless image. She love creating sets and shooting beautiful raw organic subjects just as much as she loves physically taking risks and challenging herself to get the perfect shot — even if it means climbing a telephone pole or being strapped in the bed of a truck shooting cars winding down hairpin turns. If she wasn't a photographer she would probably be a stunt double in Hollywood.
Jeff Divine (Photographer)
His work took him to a stafff position in 1971 with Surfer Magazine where he would begin the first of some 37 annual trips to the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii and numerous worldwide trips to the best surfing destinations. He served as photo editor for Surfer and the Surfer's Journal for 35 years.
Divine has one of the largest archives of surf photography that exists from 1970-2009. His published works include; Masters of Surfing Photography Volume 1 (The Surfer's Journal) Surfing Photographs from the Seventies taken by Jeff Divine (Tom Adler books, artbook.com ) Surfing Photographs Taken in the Eighties by Jeff Divine (Tom Adler Books, art book.com ) Legends of Surfing (Duke Boyd, MVP Books).
Divine is a 2019 Inductee for Surf Culture in the Surfing Walk of Fame. View his full bio at: https://surfingwalkoffame.com/jeff-divine/
Also, view Divine's website https://jeffdivinesurf.com/
PHOTO: Courtesy of John Titchen.
www.johntitchen.com
JOHN "JACK" TITCHEN (Photographer)
Photographer John “Jack” Titchen, was born on March 13, 1921, in Sydney, Australia. Jack Titchen began his career at the Sydney Daily Mirror and soon served in the Australian Merchant Marine and U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. He received a degree in photography from the renowned Los Angeles Art Center College of Design. Jack was an award-winning news photographer who worked at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for 25 years where he retired in 1984 but freelanced well into his 80s. He captured innocents of Hawaii in the 60’s. He photographed historical events, including volcanic eruptions, presidential visits, surf contests, and sporting events. Some of his most noted personalities that he photographed are Queen Elizabeth, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, President John F. Kennedy, President Gerald Ford, suffering legends Sunny Garcia and Rell Sunn.
Photographed by Ben Barnick
JONI STERNBACH (Photographer)
Joni Sternbach is a native New Yorker. She holds an M.A. in Photography from New York University/International Center of Photography. She is a visiting artist at Cooper Union and an advisory member at Penumbra Foundation where she teaches wet plate collodion.
Sternbach uses both large format film and early photographic processes to create contemporary landscapes and environmental portraits. Her work centers on our relationship with water, contrasting some of the most desolate deserts in the American West to iconic surf beaches around the world. Her long-term projects involve the pursuit and understanding of the western landscape and the series SurfLand, which captures portraits of surfers in tintype.
Surf Site Tin Type, Sternbach’s second monograph was published by Damiani Editore in 2015. She is a 2016 Taylor Wessing Portrait prizewinner. Her work is part of many public collections including: The National Portrait Gallery in London, Nelson-Atkins Museum and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She is the recipient of many grants including NYFA and the 2011 Clarence John Laughlin award and the Santo Foundation. Her survey exhibition VAST opened in November 2017 at the Harn Museum in Florida.
She is represented by Von Lintel Gallery in Los Angeles, CA.
Bibliography
Ice Cream Headaches by Jules Roubinet and Ed Thompson Damiani 2018
Surfing by Jim Heimann published by Taschen 2016
Surf Site Tin Type monograph published by Damiani 2015
Promise Land published by Café Royal Books 2013
Photographs Not Taken edited by Will Steacy 2012
SurfLand monograph published by photolucida 2009
Pleasures and Terrors of Domestic Comfort by Peter Galassi published by the Museum of Modern Art 1991
Photo courtesy of Charlie Hardy
LEO HETZEL (Photographer)
Leo Hetzel has lived the life that few of us can only dream of. Growing up as a surfer, he transformed his life into one of the best know surf pioneers photographers starting in the 60’s.
From Leo own words, “Senior year of college, I took a photography class. Just for the easy grade. But I loved it, and my father helped me build a darkroom in the garage. I’d go in there after school, come out, and it would be daybreak the next morning. I was consumed.”
For over 50 years, Leo has spend most of his time behind the camera photographing some of the legends of the surfing. Shooting Michael Haley, Billy Fury, Mark Martinson, Timmy Dorsey, Rich Chew, John Boozer, David Nuuhiwa, Chick Edmonson, Corky Carroll, Roy Crump, Jaxie Baxter, Bruce Jones, and the rest of the OC locals of that era. He also photographed legends such as Barry Kanaiaupuni, Joey Cabell, Mickey Dora, Skip Frye, Mike Hynson, Jeff Hakman, Paul Strauch, and John Peck.
Leo had two Nikon F cameras, one for color slides and one for Tri-x b&w and several lenses. He was college friend with Steve Pezman, and many of his surfing photos found their way into several international surfing publications. Leo later worked as a staff photographer for the Long Beach Independent Press Telegram where he felt like he was in heaven continuing his photographic career.
Over the last years Leo has been scanning his black and white, and color negatives. He has been preserving one image at a time by cleaning up each image in Photoshop.
Leo has been extremely generous with usage of his images to the Surfing Walk of Fame. He has lived the life through his photography, not for the monetary rewards but for his passion and surfing lifestyle.
Photo courtesy of Leo Hetzel
LEROY GRANNIS (Photographer)
Known as "The Godfather of Surf Photography" LeRoy's photography has captured the sport of surfing and surfing lifestyle in the 60's and early 70's. His photography appeared in the surf culture magazines of the time including Surfer, Surfing Illustrated, Reef and other noted magazines.
Besides photographing images from the shore, LeRoy developed a rubber-lined housing that had the advantage of being able to change film in the lineup. He later as co-founded Surfing Illustrated and International Surfing which he was also the photo editor. In 1998 Surfer's Journal Editor Brad Barrett and Co-Publisher & Editor Steve Pezman, along with Art Director Jeff Girard published a hard cover book titled "Photo: Grannis" Surfing's Golden Age 1960-1969. In 2002 was awarded the SIMA's Lifetime Achievement Award.
LeRoy was inducted into the Surfing Walk of Fame in 1999 for Surf Culture. He passed away two years later on February 3, 2011. With his passing his son John Grannis has help support the SWoF with usage of LeRoy's photography for our website, induction poster and program. Click to view LeRoy's induction page.
PHOTO: Courtesy of Bobby Zee Images. Bob Hurley with Lew Harrison
LEW HARRISON
Graphic designer and web designer Lew Harrison has been supporting with the Huntington Beach surf culture for over 25 years. Back in 1992, he and his company created the first website for the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum which they maintained for over 15 years probono. While he was on the board of directors for the ISM, he created brochures, marketing materials, event poster and event programs.
In 2007, Lew was contracted to create a website for the Surfing Walk of Fame. In the same year he was asked to be on the board member where he continued to maintain the website, created the yearly induction posters and event program covers. He also uses his photography background for recording the induction days and retouching achieved photographs for the website.
Early in 2017, Lew began the massive task of re-designing the Surfing Walk of Fame new website as well as creating the SWoF 25th Anniversary logo that will be use for the 2018 marketing materials.
Lew has had his own graphic design/website business since 1984. He’s a graduated from Art Center College of Design in Graphic Design/Packaging Design major. He was lived in Huntington Beach for more than 3 decades
SHARON MARSHALL (Photographer)
With a total interest in surfing since high school, Sharon Marshall was on the corner of PCH and Main Street in Huntington Beach in front of Jack's Surfboards in 1994 when a stone for Duke Kahanamoku was laid in the ground for the beginning of the Surfing Walk of Fame. For the past twenty four years she has been to every annual ceremony and photographically documented each class of new inductees. Having been mentored by Larry "Flame" Moore at Surfing Magazine she can be found at many related events with camera in hand documenting the colorful surfing lifestyle.
Simone started surf photography when she moved to Santa Barbara CA in 1976. With an old camera and telephoto lens her brother had given her, she set out to Rincon to capture her first surfing images.