Gary G, 1575494019
Gary’s words are worth a thousand pictures
Jaydos, 1575494534
Not sure who took it but the photo of Craig Anderson at maxing Kandui on a 5'4" Hypto is another recent iconic photo that comes to mind..
abc-od, 1575495753
Bit of a yeah nah for me.
Yeah, iconic shots are becoming thin on the ground, but iconic shots become that way by consensus - we all agree on what's hot.
Surfing is so fractured, hipsters, loggers, comp goons, that its impossible to speak across the sport.
abc-od, 1575495791
I think we can all agree on the Ando shot though.
Island Bay, 1575496490
Made Switra arching through a blue Padang barrel.
Good article, Stu. Another one.
velocityjohnno, 1575496810
Jamie Mitchell paddling into Belharra, both the pics and the vid footage. There's something about the wind and the light that adds epicness to an epic feat.
Otherwise, iconic images now exist in the world of memes and quick jokes, such as the lady who put her fins in backwards at the Bali comp: iconic sign of the times.
dastasha, 1575497055
Maybe its got something to do with the ubiquity of video.
Laurie Towner at Fiji does it for me.
stan1972, 1575497894
Agree about video, which a lot of time shows photos to be a lie - despite the old adage.
In the mid 80s a photo of US east coast surfer Matt Mondragon was taken at inside sunset and landed covers of both Surfer and Surfing, and also ran prominently in (I think) ASL. It was an iconic photo. One of the most technically perfect ever taken. Chris Cote even mentioned on the webcast the other day.
But the video of that wave would barely make the highlights reel in the WSL post show.
blackers, 1575497901
Laird, Millenium wave.
Island Bay, 1575497989
There was a zoomed out version, which showed Tom Carroll dropping in. No joke!
derra83, 1575497993
Video was a serial killer.
stunet, 1575498292
Now that's the iconic shot!
lolo, 1575499418
I think you're missing the point of what an iconic photo really is. They're not a dime a dozen. If there's an "iconic" photo turn up on an Insta feed every month is it really iconic? People have listed a few from the last decade or two - the ones that really stand out from the oversaturated pack.
No doubt the needle has moved from quality towards quantity to keep everyone's Insta and FB feeds chugging along, but they're still out there waiting to be taken. They just need the perfect alignment of waves, wind, light, surfer and photog all at once.
Be patient!
Island Bay, 1575499457
You probably have the magazine, Stu. Surfer or Surfing?
Cover was the zoomed in one, but inside was the full version, including a story about how TC didn't want to let a good wave go to waste.
In today's media world we would have know whether he was justified or just being a greedy pig :-)
stunet, 1575499832
Excellent. I'll dig it out this afternoon.
Island Bay, 1575500255
[img]https://i.imgur.com/mql2m8d.jpg[/img]
Spuddups, 1575501845
Fark, I have that issue somewhere. I'll have to dig it out.
Graeme Murdoch, 1575502396
Often when I see a seagull, I try to imagine my reaction if it was the most rare bird in the world. How astonished I would be at its incredible pristine whiteness! I'd walk around for the rest of the day in a daze, buzzing at the beauty of that creature, the privilege! etc... but cos they're all over the shop it's like, yeah... big deal...
Craig, 1575502811
Sick shot!
thermalben, 1575503143
Yep, I had that one blue-tacked to my bedroom wall.
tango, 1575503347
There's another of it as a double spread in a compilation mag from the early 00s as well, I think - just the image, no bling. It's in a box in the garage somewhere....
radiationrules, 1575503844
Zak Noyle's photo of Dede Surian riding the wave full of plastic - I cant ever forget that one. Nor Nathan Fletcher's code red - the phantom video footage by Chris Bryant - WTF? Those two are seared in my mind..so I guess iconic shots do come up; maybe we don't have the attention span to see them anymore?
johnson, 1575503848
I'd say Parko's wave at Snapper will go down as one of those iconic images. Not just for the wave, but for the story surrounding it: While the bloated WSL machine hedged their bets and spent the entire night shifting their operations down to Kirra where a group of rookies and journeymen ultimately spent the day lost at sea (mostly), two world champs on the verge of retirement went and packed pits at some of the best Snapper ever, right in front of the abandoned comp site.
I thought it said a lot about the current WSL, and how they've lost the flexibility of years gone by. With Kelly out injured and JJF, Mick & Joel losing early, the rest of the field mostly looked like kittens in the unfamiliar territory, also leaving a massive power void on tour which was eventually filled by a rampaging Medina later in the year.
Basically it foreshadowed a changing of the guard, while also highlighting a lot of the problems with the WSL's current model and it's position at odds with the broader spirit of surfing.
stunet, 1575505440
Following on from Island Bay's recollection above RE Tom Carroll dropping in.
I found the offending image but it's not quite as remembered. The cropped image is of Mark Foo at Inside Sunset and used as the cover of Surfing, May 1986 - the composition of the shot is almost identical to Aaron Chang's shot of Matt Mondragon.
Inside, the pulled back image is run on the table of contents page and lo and behold, here comes Tom!
While even deeper in the mag is another shot of Matt Mondragon on, what I assume, is the same wave as Chang's image only taken a fraction of a second earlier and more landward.
I also found an article by Aaron Chang where he claims the shot of Matt Mondragon is the most published surf photo in history. Hard to verify that stat, however the back story is that he almost didn't take the photo as there were so many photographers in the channel at Sunset that he felt overwhelmed and wanted to give up.
So far we can tick off Aaron Chang, Dan Merkel, and Jeff Divine, three of the heaviest water photographers of the age, floating about facing their camera towards Sunset's inside bowl.
The last hurrah of Paumalu before KS embraced Pipe and the spotlight followed shortly thereafter.
Craig, 1575505444
Hmm, don't recall it, musn't be that iconic ;p
stunet, 1575505492
IB, see photos below.
Ran 'em down there so I could go full width.
Island Bay, 1575506058
Hah, I was thinking about how much I'd gotten right - and not!
Good on you for the detective work. Goes to show how you confuse things so many years later.
Jono, 1575506502
zenagain, 1575506598
A few burned into my memory- Evo in that tube Cronulla point, Dane Kealoha standing tall in either Backdoor or inside Sunset, can't recall which, Maurice Cole soul arching off the bottom, bombing French beachie, Vince Collier (God rest his violent soul) decimating that wall with one giant hack and finally, Jason Buttenshaw in the clearest af clear tubes at D'Bah. Think it was a Martin Tullemans shot. Apologies to the other photogs for not remembering.
If anyone could dig those up that would be awesome.
Actually, a gallery of some shots peeps mentioned above would be a good addendum to this article.
Craig, 1575506760
Wow, haven't seen that, you guys up there must see it all the time at the shop, hence front of mind.
stunet, 1575506947
"Packed pits" with the aid of 310 horsepower.
stunet, 1575507337
The cover shot. Too pretty. Too perfect.
udo, 1575507366
Aaron Changs pic ..is that the one that gives a false impression of the joint and makes it look to easy ?
Bnkref, 1575507547
I was going to say Nathan Fletcher's abominable wave at Teahupoo when I read the heading but I see it made the cut.
Bnkref, 1575507791
Thinking back to my days as a grommie lidder and prolific reader of Riptide etc at the time.
There was an iconic one of Tim Jones charging waimea shorey.
bill-poster, 1575507851
Timeless
[img]https://i.imgur.com/OSEaJue.jpg[/img]
thermalben, 1575508298
Wonder if we've still got the surfcam footage, that showed how he towed in!
Baron von Spatula, 1575508308
recently been spying an albino magpie in my locale... now that's a beautifully, albeit wigged-out, specimen.
indo-dreaming, 1575508505
I can't think of any iconic shots since god knows when, thay cutty of currens or carroll's snap? Maybe yeah the best would be that dude at no kandui with that super short board or maybe that shot of HTs with empty wave and full golden light. (But pretty old now)
But i think there is iconic videos still.
1. First footage of Kellys pool those empty early morning waves and his reaction
2. Mick fanning at that snake right
Womble123, 1575508604
Go Munga! didn't that make at least two concurrent covers that month?
amb, 1575508647
Chappy Jennings shot at Pipe
Rabbit in the tube at Kirra
MP's cutback
some guy doing a layback in the tube cant rember who or where need to back thru my posters.
peterb, 1575510239
The Duke, holding Isabel on his fingertips, but no, I forgot, the pic was rigged. So how about the shot of Paul Gebaur dropping down a Sunset face stretched perpendicular like elastic on the cover of a magazine about fifty years ago. Also rigged.
Cookie1, 1575511125
The art of embellishment is fading due to saturation coverage even at your local, but it still lives.Watched a mate's kid surfing the other day. He got a 50 metre ride and wiggled his hips a couple of times. Talking to his friends on the beach he spent some time describing all the re-entries and cutbacks he did plus apparently a nice cover up at the end. He saw me grinning and asked why. I said "you are a true surfer now mate" and he asked why that was. "Because you know how to bullshit" was my answer.
wally, 1575516278
My vote for most iconic would be the John Severson photo of Greg Noll on the beach at Pipeline.
[img]https://i.imgur.com/M4z3dCP.jpg[/img]
Also, the most iconic boardies in surf history.
Willliam, 1575517134
Some of the posters I had on my wall:
MP cutback
Curren cutback
Slater pigdog barrel from G-Land 96
Taylor Knox side shot on his $50k wave at Todos Santos
Jay Moriarity going over fall sat Mavericks sequence
Any Irons standing tall at Chopes
thedrip, 1575523579
I honestly can’t believe the guys who could paddle, yet tow. Especially when there are other guys paddling in at the same wave.
Towing is easy and doesn’t require much skill. It is also greedy if you could be paddling.
I use to do a lot of towing when it got too big for me to paddle and I pretty much quit after a frightening experience. I am an average surfer and it was the lack if courage, not skill that put me off. I decided the biggest barrel of my life was not something I wanted to repeat. Yet it was easy to get in, set a line and belt for the channel.
The real skill in tow surfing is with the driver and them being able to put the surfer in the right place and then doing quick pick ups. Yet we valorise those who get into the wave easily and have a zillion kilometres an hour to pick where they want to be.
Short of waves in “omigod” territory, towing is boring and the. It is more about gonads than skill - everyone cops one in the head eventually when towing. I now have much more fun getting 5-10 waves a session, rather then 40. The renaissance in paddle surfing stupidly big waves suggests a lot of people agree.
PrecambrianPeter, 1575526390
Mason on a flaring pipe bomb from a year or two ago?! Think it was a screen grab from snapt
peterb, 1575527746
There’s a grainy old vid of Noll trying to control that board on a very big bumpy left at outside Pipe .. bloke had gluefeet.
GODS QUAD, 1575532186
[img]https://imgur.com/mo7eMC1[/img]
Surprised the classic shot of Andy at Chopes hasn't been mentioned!? Absolutely mental. I remember Tracks printed it as a huge pull-out poster and I had it pasted up on the walls for years.
Hard to really recall a recent one that's stopped me in my tracks like this. Maybe Ramon at Cloudbreak or Fletcher getting detonated at Chopes or Dan Gudangs razor wrap in Hawaii.
bluediamond, 1575533263
Recent..Kelly Slaters Cloudbreak pit, during a heat (or final?) arms outstretched....late arvo. From memory i don't think he made the barrel but it was a wide open heaver.
And for what its worth, Noll's wave looks pretty bloody huge to me still.
There was a photo of Occ doing a big full rail cuttie that Billabong used to put on the back of their T's that was pretty impressive. Yellow boardies. It was the first surf poster i ever had, i think early 90's. The two T.C's and their respective shots are classics. And Munga! That pic is timeless.
p-funk, 1575543249
Bruce Irons on that bright red rhino chaser at maxing Cloudy.
mick-burnside, 1575546839
to some degree it personal.......as a grom you might have had jackie dunn at pipe? or chappy jennings at pipe on your wall......30 years later you might have marti paradisis stern barrelled on your office wall........empty nesting n lifestyle retirement you might have a jon frank mood style or russ ord mad empty big on the living room wall.......from a surf photog point of view that infinite awesome image is still always there to be got and will be......its just getting harder to find and each next extreme natures moment rarer.......in the last few years mick fanning under the northern lights was an epic pic.....for me one ill never forget is a 3 shot sequence of perfect barrelling pambula river in an old mag.......seeing it in real life on fam holidays in late 70s put me on a never ending path trying to get epic surf pics........it is infinite......that infinite pic is just getting mathematically harder to capture......less wave discoveries, more surfers ,more photogs, waterproof mobile phones, idiot proof cameras, go pros ......shane dorian and anthony walsh 360 go pro barrel pic form video in remote oz sunrise .....is an all time classic hands down......theyll keep coming for sure.
wbat, 1575547412
What about that shot of Wayne Dean on that flawless 5ft backlit wave at D bah(?). Can't remember if he is bottom turning or cutting back but the mood is burnt into the head.
bluediamond, 1575547784
Fuck yeah! That is a ridiculous wave. Incredible pic.
zenagain, 1575549183
i remember that Pambula shot with the bush backdrop.
Mindless and timeless.
Good post.
Paulsy, 1575550650
ASL ran that shot of Matt Mondragon on the cover of their 100th. A lot of the classic shots in this thread were featured in that issue, including the Cronulla Point tube Zen mentioned above - epic story to match the shot, that one! (assuming it’s the same one - hell of a barrel!)
drodders, 1575592575
Richard Cram at Ulladulla Bomby
tangles 65, 1575601710
Ah, my mate had that Jackie Dunn poster on his wall. Used to spend ages staring at it as a 14 year old. The red board with the white lightning bolt, and the track he left on the wave face with his board and hand.
I'm 54 now btw haha.
Lanky Dean, 1575637472
Nice one , My only gripe would be "jet ski assist " on a wave he could have paddled.
Rick Snowden, 1575668322
Love it, Stu. Used to stare for hours at TC's snap thumb-tacked above my bunk bed.
gingeryeti, 1575670544
Every booger had this poster https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcQLlmBKT1fGyg0SGR68zM-68UaHByC3Ui5-3oSD6MZ3cQ6shM_i
gingeryeti, 1575670636
And this one https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn%3AANd9GcTOU9OU2smbZqHDMjNVMhnvOJBP2cA775h2FxQKa1ZzETa07hlo
marcus, 1575672733
What? How is that iconic?
marcus, 1575673283
Nope. Maybe the video makes it look like any good day at g land
sean-doherty, 1575676769
My shaper Bobby Brown had the same Jackie Dunn shot up on the wall of his shaping bay in Forster... slicing across Pipe from behind the peak. I stood mesmerised by it every time I went in... along with the topless calendar on the wall from the mechanic around the corner.
crg, 1575680735
Obviously the Jackie Dunn is a fav (see profile photo!)
Others I would include are:
The Munga shot at Sunset
A landscape shot of John Shortis heading out at G-Land
Chappy's pipeline "warehouse" tube
A shot of some guy named Kirby Cottler at the bottom of massive Sunset.
TC's snap was always a video moment rather than a photo for me...it's like you needed to see the whole to truly appreciate it.
I don't think iconic photos are less or more really. The shift from print to digital had the effect of making current images less permanent. Every photo I mentioned above was a poster or cut out on my wall as a grom which became burned in my mind and imagination. I mind surfed them, visualised the situations, tried to comprehend their experience. I doubt that happens on insta.
Andre Avino, 1575682563
Andy Irons carving at Pipe with that Japanese flag board.
brownie48, 1575704423
The most recent photo that I can recall that could be possibly considered an icon shot is Leroy Bellet's shot of Michel Bourez from behind him in the barrel at Chopes
mattlock, 1575709519
"Why are there no longer iconic surf photos?" Maybe saturation of content is the reason,
memlasurf, 1575756162
TC dropping in? No could never happen.
memlasurf, 1575756262
Some Golden Oldies there Zen.
NathB, 1575777669
Peter Joli - Reef Draining Teahupoo Tahiti
niclong, 1575842994
Surely Laird's Teahupoo wave would be the most printed in history?
fcalmon, 1575886749
Kelly at backdoor, photo taken from the base of the wave in the water. Some shops still have it on a full wall
fcalmon, 1575886818
Kelly at backdoor, stand up barrel. Photo taken from the base of the wave in the water. Some shops still have it on a full wall
fcalmon, 1575928973
This one:
https://i.nextmedia.com.au/insidesport/-kelly-article-7kelly-slater-joli-HQD14967.jpg
Remigogo, 1575929007
Stephanie Gilmore standing in that Jbay barrel lighting up an ear to ear grin is the pic that regularly come to my subconscious vision.
Almost lost a computer screen in a failed bid to blu tack image onto living room wall.
MattyDunbar, 1575984559
The photos definitely have less impact due to the saturation of surf photography
I think they still exist though..
- Leeroy's double tow shots
- Coreys Parko shot at snapper
- Coreys blue Owen shot from south coast... covers and ripcurl ads everywhere
- Laurie Towner Shipsterns shot (maybe Spencer Hornby)
-Chris Burkard's wide snow backdrop (Alaska?) imagery
Buffy, 1576029314
Agree, Video sells out the circumstance of the still pic.
But when does it complement the session?
Surely the best right footage ( Skeleton bay being the left - G Land quikie pro before then ) to be exposed was the La barra Del la can't go there " no contest " flick from mex contest . Made Snapper look like a west texas 80s wave pool .
Blowin, 1584081533
This photo really deserves a glossy double page spread which can be contemplated in extreme detail by those under the influence of marijuana.
[img]https://i.ibb.co/VpQ6y62/0-A66-CF43-05-BE-4-BD0-8-A8-B-585-E2-BA126-C6.jpg[/img]
PS Stu ....I came that close to putting that shot of Camel from our pissy hospital run conversation on here.
GreenCT, 1584087158
I have never been able to track it down but a mate had a photo of a Waimia wave on his wall from a magazine.
There were two or three surfers taking off and inside of them was Eddie Aikau taking off body surfing with arm outstretched at the top of what looked like a 25 foot plus face wave.
pigman, 1584088766
long time ago MP backdoor pipeline
ringmaster, 1584093435
2nd Jamie Mitchell at Belharra. That wave is embedded in my mind for sure.
Yep......saturation has pretty well killed the mystique and room for story telling these days but that's just the way it is now I spose.
ringmaster, 1584094055
Pretty sure you're talking about a wave she rode at Honalua Bay.
Fucken epic pic though!
ringmaster, 1584094488
When I was a kid (late 70's) I had a massive poster on my bedroom wall of James Jones midway down the face of a flawless, cobalt blue Waimea monster. Iconic for sure and no doubt Stunet would be able to dig it up.
GreenCT, 1584145476
Hi Udo
Is there a way to see the magazine and which issue ?
udo, 1584147824
I was way off with dates...Def not the pic your talking of .
udo, 1584147884
:
Remigogo, 1584154801
Nicely corrected ringmaster. Thank you.
Lanky Dean, 1584161249
nice one!
Blowin, 1608715850
This photo never ceases to blow my mind
Iconic for sure.
[img]https://i.ibb.co/LYLcXVT/F3-BD656-D-1-F0-F-4-A32-96-DA-DED3-BA9678-EF.jpg[/img]
goofyfoot, 1608716340
Margo? Andy?
udo, 1608716543
Margo
That Booby Jones pick was a ripper
thermalben, 1625264672
Stumbled across this article from 2019.. timely given the news of Greg Noll's passing this week.
frog, 1625302205
I don't think the 3 shot sequence of greg noll is his big one. It may have been this wave - see link below. It was slightly onshore as in this shot:
https://noosatoday.com.au/sport/29-06-2021/farewell-big-wave-legend/attachment/brine_242363_02-jpg/
stunet, 1625303478
That's Waimea, not Makaha
GuySmiley, 1625305030
Anyone mentioned Lopez at Pipe yet? Lots to choose from
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=gerry+lopez+at+pipeline&client=safari&hl=en-au&prmd=ivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjJxJvozMbxAhXjzDgGHbQ9AOsQ_AUoAXoECAIQAQ&biw=320&bih=523#imgrc=_-CGissgblndEM