Summer is so close we can smell it-the gentle bouquet of suntan lotion, coconut warm water wax, and hot asphalt. Here at WRG, we're looking to add more artists and photographers in the coming months, as well as expanding our poster section. Keep an eye on our ever-evolving catalog.as well as our blog and events calendar for summer-time artist showings and WRG happenings. Hope you enjoy!
Peace,
The Waveriders Gallery Crew
P.S. Please direct any comments, criticisms, or props to info@waveridersgallery.net. If perchance you like what you see, please refer us to a friend.
 Young college lad picks up a camera one day and starts snapping away on a whim, lineups, empty waves, typical surfer fantasy stuff. Sends a couple 4x6 prints off to the surf mags, starts a collage of rejection notices but perseveres.until one hits, gets published in a respected international pub. Cue the "Behind the Music" theme as fame finds the Kid as he starts scaling the heights of surf photography stardom. Meet Josh Kimball.
Was there a crystallizing moment when you decided you wanted to become a surf photographer? When you said, yeah, this is what I want to do?
 "Well, it was always just a fun hobby for me, all the way through my time going to school at UCSB (University California, Santa Barbara), just shooting lineups and empty waves and the like. I sent off a bunch of little 4x6 prints to the magazines periodically, having no clue how to properly submit images. After probably a dozen rejection letters from various mags, I got a handwritten letter from Steve Pezman, founder of The Surfers Journal, telling me that he dug an image of pumping Black's Beach I took on Thanksgiving Day 2002, and that he'd hang onto it for possible use. About four months later, there it was on the second to last page of The Journal, my first published photo."
"It was definitely one of those days where life takes a 90-degree turn off into a new tangent. I started saving all the money I could from slinging burritos and enchiladas at a Cardiff mom-and-pop Mexican joint, and started buying stuff: housings, bodies, lenses, etc. This was a few years before I even considered going digital, so I also blew heaps of money on film and processing. Then I took out a large bank loan for more photo gear, and there was definitely no looking back after that.
"So yeah, it was sort of a leap of faith, but that one image getting run really sent me off on the path I'm traveling today."
You have an extensive background in shooting for editorial. Do you see shooting "fine art shots" and "editorial shots" as being two somewhat different disciplines, or increasingly alike?
"I think the line is becoming increasingly blurred between the two, a fact I'm stoked on, because it means that mags are running a lot more images on the artsy/creative side. Even among the "big three" mags, you'll find a lot of creative lineups, speed blurs, avant garde portraits-stuff that I feel is more aligned with fine art, the sort of thing I think people will remember. These are the photos I strive to get, and am always really pleased when something on the artsy/creative side I shoot turns out well.
"I do think it depends on the photographer, and on which publication will be using the image. Some photogs just want to sit on the beach and get the superhero busting out his fins with logos blaring in the morning light. And there's always going to be a market for this, both in the advertorial and editorial scheme of things. But I just see these as disposable images, generally, the ones that might make the photog a buck but don't offer anything positive and long lasting to the world of surf art. And for certain mags, this is still their bread-and-butter type of image. I have to admit to occasionally going for the same sort of image-the pure surf action photo-but I try to keep them at a minimum compared to the types of creative things I like to shoot so much more.
"But I do see 'fine art' and 'editorial' converging a lot more these days, and the convergence is only going to take surf photography to a higher ground."
What's the story behind your best seller, "Heavy Moment"?
 "Just pure luck really: right place, right time. It's from a pointbreak in South America, one of the world's few pointbreaks that can legitimately handle huge surf. A week after I shot this image, local surfer Diego Medina won biggest paddle-in wave of the winter at the same spot, a wave that defeated the biggest waves of the winter from places like Mavericks and Todos Santos.
"But anyways, it couldn't have worked out better. I had the 600mm fixed on the composition provided by the two towering cliffs, just hoping that someone would stand somewhere nearby to give the spot some perspective. A lone surfer, clad in full-body rubber and a really gunny surfboard cruised right in-between the rocks just as a macking set poured through. I got the shot, the set swept on down the point, and the surfer paddled out. I was buzzing when I shot the image, but had to wait two months to see it, until I returned home and got it back from the lab. The wait was worth it."
Any secrets to composing pulled "panorama" shots like "Fort Point" or "Pipeline Afar"?
 "It's all about the composition really. Since the main subject in these pulled-back shots-the wave(s)-is really far away, there needs to be something else compelling on the periphery of the image: trees, shrubbery, bridges, boats, cliffs, mountains, shantytowns, skyscrapers-something to frame the subject and hopefully provide drama and depth to the image. It takes an awfully good empty wave to make a good photo if there's nothing else happening in the field of vision during the moment that the image was captured."
"But it also has to be a magical day of surf to get a good pulled-back image. All the aforementioned items that can help frame a moment are worthless if the main subject-the surf-isn't damn near perfect."
What's in your immediate future?
"Let's see . . . on Saturday July 14th, I'll be doing a show in Cayucos, California, about twenty minutes north of San Luis Obispo. I think it's gonna be a blast: there's gonna be two live sets of music from a killer San Francisco rock band Spindrift, free libations from some of CenCal's finest wineries and breweries, hors d'oeuvres, and lots of my photography printed exclusively on canvas and stretched like paintings.
"Apart from that, hopefully some travels this summer, hopefully some more photos to come back from the trips, and just plugging away, trying to keep the dream alive . . .."
View more images on Josh´s page at Waveriders Gallery
“I walked beside the evening sea and dreamed a dream that could not be; the waves that plunged along the shore said only: "Dreamer, dream no more!”
--George William Curtis, Writer
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Three books that stand as essential reading for any waveseeker, at our lowest prices ever! Read, learn, be eternally stoked.
Waveriders artists Meegan Feori and Wade Koniakowsky will be auctioning off two banners specially commissioned for the Encinitas Arts Alive Project. Proceeds will benefit the local artist communities. You can scope their efforts at www.encinitas101.com. The live action for the banners will held Sunday, May 20th, 2pm, at the intersection of Birmingham and San Elijo in Cardiff, California.
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The Maine coast is renowned for its raw physical beauty, but frequent flat spells and brutal weather nine months of the year offer scant photo opps that don't involve lobster boats or lobster claw gloves. Local Nick LaVecchia has the rare patience to capture those fleeting days and seemingly transform this often cruel coast into some kind of lush, sun-drenched haven.
His photography captures the isolated desolate moments that comprise the New Englander's waveriding experience. Close examination of Nick's work reveals an instinctive awareness for the principle of addition by subtraction-that is, the power of shadows and shading to suggest, shape, and enhance the visible. Nick is a Senior Photographer for Eastern Surf Magazine and N'East Magazine, has traveled the world and lived in Burlington, Vermont, before he settled in York, Maine, and found a home in the Northeast. You can view his images here.
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Notable San Diego, California, artist Tony Spineto joined the Waveriders Gallery in April. Inspired by surfing, in color, form, and content, Tony focuses on creating works of art that capture the essence of the freedom and flow of the sea. Through a kaleidoscope of brilliant colors, his honest, pure style of meandering dry brush strokes mixed with a unique perspective of natural objective form brings new meaning to his subject matter.
Not limited to traditional topics that define the essence of surfing, Tony's portfolio includes works that illustrate complementary surfing scenes that illustrate calm reflections brought to life through his desire to creatively meld illusions of the open, uncomplicated views of the life of a surfer. You can enjoy his images here.
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Artist Micaiah Hardison and the good people at SurfAid are partnering to improve the health of the isolated folk connected to us through surfing. Micaiah is offering up the proceeds from the sale of this original artwork (commissioned for the Swim4Life Benefit) to help SurfAid in its admirable mission. You can view and purchase the painting here.
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