art brewer
In the language of images, the photographs of Art Brewer are known for speaking with penetrating truth, enlivened with an edgy wit. But Brewer’s unique colloquial voice is also capable of a restrained grandeur evoking an iconic sense of “witnessing” that brings us to the forefront of our attention, alerted to something transcendent in each captured moment. As a subjective experience, his images thrill us with their presence; bringing us somehow back into ourselves. This gift translates into powerful impressions that convey relevance and meaning that evoke and engage, bringing credibility, honesty and intimacy to the vast array of subjects that catch his eye. —Drew Kampion
In 1969, at age 18 and as senior photographer for Surfer Magazine, Art met up with Bunker Spreckels standing beachside at the Banzai Pipeline on Oahu’s North Shore. It would mark the start of a friendly yet rancorous working relationship that would neither come into fantastic focus nor totally devolve away from frame until Art was commissioned by Bunker on a trip to South Africa in 1975. Art trailed the man across several continents, soon realizing he was keeping dangerous company; Bunker, on a tear thru Durban, was tagged by the locals as being “too wild for the game park.”
The result of eight years of documenting from the lion’s den and other adventures some 35 years ago is amassed in a collection of storied photographs that remain mostly unseen and unpublished save for some 60 printed in the hardcover coffee-table book Bunker Spreckels: Surfing’s Divine Prince of Decadence 1949-1977 (Taschen, 2007).
Over a 40-year career, Art has seen his vast body of surfing images and beach portraits celebrated in numerous books, documentaries, and publications such as Surfer, The Surfers Journal, Islands, Rolling Stone, Sports Illustrated, Esquire, and Playboy.
ART’s input and inspiration has been a big part of the development of the ESSEX Q2 Amphibie.
will weaver
Growing up on the big island of Hawaii William fell in love with the ocean at an early age. He learned to swim as a toddler in the tide pools of the Kona Coast and began surfing at age six. His passion for photography began at 11 taking pictures at the local surf break and upon graduation from high school his parents gave him a film underwater camera in support of his interest.
William moved to Oahu to attend the University of Hawaii at Manoa majoring in Marine Biology fostering his love of the marine realm. With the advent of digital photography William’s passion deepened. He began making water housings and testing them in waves of consequence across Oahu.
He now works as a natural resource specialist for the Ko’olau Mountains Watershed Partnership protecting the invaluable forested ecosystems that provide Oahu with it’s lifeblood, clean drinking water. He still spends his free time in the ocean and pushes himself into larger surf each winter season at spots like the infamous Banzai Pipeline.
Working in both the ocean and the mountains from makai to mauka helps him to finds balance and exhilaration. His main goal with his art is to share this vision with others and spread awareness of the unique, invaluable natural resources of Hawaii.
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makai2mauka/
Ruben Snitslaar
”Water attracts many of us. As a matter of fact, we ‘are’ water. These days, everybody is a photographer. Many of us look, but do we all see?
Growing up in the Netherlands on a canal in the old city center of Amsterdam, Ruben was immersed in the different aspects of living close to and with the water learning to love, 'read' and understand it in all its beauty. A location scout for photography and film for many years, Ruben moved to another level in 2011 when he combined photography with his absolute passion for wave-surfing in the Dutch North Sea.
Creating an image shooting his own perspective from the water ads an interesting element to still photography; one is shooting a moving subject in a moving environment. The key characteristic in his Dutch surf photography is not only to make us feel what it is like to be out there, but also to tell the story about wave surfing in the cold, murky waters of the Dutch North Sea instead of the usual tropical destinations with clear waters, palm trees and hula girls. He specifically points out the fact that despite this large contrast, we all share that same unique experience—Dutch, opposed to Hawaiian surf… it is all about being out there. He describes this as ‘The Aloha spirit in a raincoat’. ;-)
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eyesea.nl/