I was commissioned by a publisher in the UK to shoot a few portraits of surfers from Santa Cruz, CA for a book titled Cold Water Souls. The publisher also ran a few images from my archive of surfing spots in Northern California including Capitola, Santa Cruz, and the biggest monster of them all – Mavericks!
Cold Water Souls will be published world-wide and available at select book shops, surf shops, and on Amazon.com
Surfing outtake from Cold Water Souls. Steamer Lane. Santa Cruz, CA
from Approaching Lines: Cold Water Souls: In Search of Surfing’s Cold Water Pioneers is the ultimate journey of discovery. It has seen author Chris Nelson embark on an epic exploration of surfing’s most frigid outposts to track down those pioneering souls who call the world’s coldest and least hospitable line ups ‘home’. From Iceland, Thurso and Hokkaido to Nova Scotia, Alaska and beyond he has journeyed into the heart of surf culture to tell the story of each destination through its surf community, exploring how the landscape and harsh environments have shaped their lifestyles and surfing experiences. Never before seen archive images and photography contributed by some of the world’s leading surf and documentary lensemen, including Brian Nevins, Jeremy Koreski, Jay Watson, Nick LaVecchia, Richie Hopson and Tim Nunn help capture the essence of these regions. In celebrating this underground seam in surfing’s rich culture, Cold Water Souls goes to the very boundaries of modern surfing, exploring waveriding’s final frontiers thorough fresh perspectives and stunning imagery.
British author Chris Nelson was recently interviewed in Huck Magazine. He surfs all the cold stuff and has published several travel books on surfing in Europe. Too bad I didn’t get to shoot Chris or the bearded Wayne Vliet from Vancouver Island. Thanks to Chris and Demi for the gig.
Over the next few days, I will be posting more images and outtakes I shot for the book.
San Francisco Bay Area based lifestyle and people photographer Jay Watson shoots editorial, apparel, automotive, corporate, and sports subjects for commercial clients. Published in over 70 magazines.
This is great, J Dub! I can’t wait to see the book. The outtakes alone are thrilling.
CG
Thanks CG! Too bad I didn’t get to shoot the true hard core guys like ones who surf in Alaska.