On a trip across California this winter, our editor Elisa Routa stopped by the Long Beach Museum of Art, currently paying tribute to godfather of surf photography LeRoy Grannis, top surfer in the ’30s, co-founder of International Surfing in 1964 which later became Surfing Magazine.

»Born and raised in Hermosa Beach, California, American photographer, LeRoy Grannis (b. 1917 – 2011) documented the evolution of surfing from its humble beginnings that grew into a global sport and lifestyle, witnessing first-ha,d its epochal development in the history of American surf culture. Organized by the Long Beach Museum of Art, Cult to Culture: Photographs by LeRoy Grannis explores the artist’s mastery in the medium and his ability to capture iconic images that played a profound role in shaping the world of surfing during its golden age of the 1960s and ’70s.  Shooting images from San Diego to Malibu, California, to Oahu’s North Shore, Hawaii, Grannis frequently travelled to document a migration of Californian surfers venturing across the Pacific to take on giant waves. The exhibition reveals the innovator within as he pushed technological boundaries to capture the free-spirited essence of the evolving sport.«

Behind glass windows of the main room, the visitor is lucky enough to see the lens that legendary photographer LeRoy Grannis used at the time and mainly used in surf photography in the ’60s, better known as the Century lens. There’s a heavy waterproof wooden box, fiberglassed and sealed with rubber built by George Greenough for LeRoy to keep his cameras safe from water, and transport film and lenses on his surfboard.

Photographing the beauty and power of the ocean for over 20 years, LeRoy Grannis captured the generational changes of surfing during its so called Golden Age of the 1960s and ’70s. Similar to iconic shots like »The Malibu Wall« (1966), Grannis captured the spirit of early surf lifestyle of Southern California. The gallery showcases »lifestyle” photography and surfing shots like Midget Farrelly surfing Shore Break Makaha in 1968, Gerry Lopez and Rory Russell in Pipeline, Oahu in 1972, the Duke Contest in Sunset Beach, Greg Noll Surfshop in Hermosa Beach in 1963, San Onofre Parking Lot in 1964, Miki Dora in 1963, Dewey Weber in 1966 or Bob Beadle in Sunset Beach in 1962…

The show “Cult to Culture” at the Long Beach Museum of Art is open to the public until April 21st.

Photos: LeRoy Grannis Courtesy of the Long Beach Art Museum

Photos Long Beach Museum of Art (inside):  Elisa Routa & Angèle Debuire

More infos here.

The post Cult to Culture with LeRoy Grannis appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

Magazine founder and surfer Joran Briand puts it simply: »West is the Best offers an experience of surfing through tale and travel.« For this third edition, they booked a ticket for Mexico, »a country where surfing presents a conquest,« he says. »And yet, underneath its rigorous facade, the Pacific coast divulges ample surprises for those knowledgeable enough to seize them. This is the case for all the creative women and men to whom this edition gives voice.« French designer Joran Briand tells us more about this newly-launched magazine, made with love along the Pacific coast this past winter.

Every two years, the Paris-based Studio Briand & Berthereau looks for creators, artists and entrepreneurs passionate about the ocean and fascinated by surfing. »Whether they’re designers, architects, or stylists, their testimonials serve as sources of inspiration. From Puerto Escondido to Costa Careyes and in passing by Zihuatanejo, they learned resilience in order to create tailor-made lifestyles where work and pleasure are one in the same,« he explains. »Their lives orbit around surfing in just a balance between hedonism and spirituality, and in the heart the Third-Place – and in their image – ecosystems open allowing us to dream together. They share their backgrounds and projects with a single, yet elegant, motto: work with passion, but with your feet in the sand. In Mexico, some utopias have become realities.«

After a first volume focused on California, out in 2013, and a second edition created about France launched in 2016, the publisher Pyramid offered to present West is the Best Mexico. In this third issue, Joran Briand wanted to pay tribute to women, »so rarely visible in this resolutely masculine world.« Going beyond clichés, transcending the expected from La Saladita to Costa Careyes, this new edition displays common visions able to gather a whole lifestyle, »where surfing unveils a spirituality that reconnects us to nature.«

This West is the Best 3 Mexico will be officially launched in Paris on May, 18 and in Biarritz on June 28. 

Photos: ©Joran Briand

Find more infos on West is the Best

The post West is the Best in Mexico appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

Fun fact. Nantes-born photographer Thomas Lodin doesn’t call the ocean, the ocean. « We call it the sea, it’s always been like this. » Thomas discovered surfing thanks to his brother when he was 16. Before that, he was playing around with his BMX bike, dreaming of becoming a pro and traveling the world. « But since I got my very first surfboard, I never stopped. I quitted my graphic arts school a year before getting my diploma and I moved to Biarritz. It was 5 years ago. »

Today, Thomas belongs to the small network of artists whose work and adventure are great to watch and follow. « In Biarritz, life is a bit different everyday. Beyond the simple fact of checking the forecast, planning some photoshoots or photos just for fun, I spend a lot of time behind my screen, never far from my notebook. Treating the images, planning the next shoots with clients depending on our schedule, developping pictures, sending orders and thinking of future ideas. That’s what my weeks are about. » We sat down with French photographer Thomas Lodin to discuss his art, the process that he uses to make it, his shared love for digital and analog photography, his passion for old surfboards, his trips around the world, collaboration with France-based Oxbow brand, and his coming projects like « Impressions », a printed book project gathering a selection of 150 pictures taken along these past years.

Either in the basque country, in California, Australia or Mexico, Thomas has this peculiar way of capturing the inner spirit of surfing. Inspired by the greatest icons of the 60s, his steady, unflinching passion for surfing remains relatively unchanged since the first time he took a camera. As art aficionados, ocean lovers and design amateurs, that’s what caught our eyes the first time we met. Thomas has a true fascination for images. « I have the same approach with surfing as with photography. I usually spend more time on the aesthetic aspect of a camera than on the technical side. It’s like when choosing a surfboard, » he says. « Most of the time, I opt for cameras that carry an interesting history and unique design. »

Digital or analog? That’s a question we dared asking. Fortunately for us, Thomas didn’t choose. Digital for work, analog for fun. We asked him to go back on this precious selection of 35mm shots displayed in this article. « These last rolls are mostly black and white pictures I took last year in Biarritz and during trips. The black and white rolls allow me to develop them myself cause it’s quite easy to do and I can save a bit money as well. I shot around 25 rolls and developed some in September. But the rolls ended up stating on top of my desk, » he explains. « So once the rain season arrived, I started to develop the 13 rolls left! These rolls represent generally the off moments while on shoots, on trips or just when with friends. Some have been taken during surf sessions in Biarritz, some others in Paris or during Baiona Bestak (Fêtes de Bayonne, France). Most of them were shot in California during my last trip, from Venice to San Onofre and Malibu, including a short visit in Mexico. I also got some pictures from the opening ceremony of the Blue Factory in San Sebastian and there are some views from New York as well while a shoot for Oxbow. » Thomas has been working as a staff photographer for the french brand called Oxbow for the last 3 years. « My mission is to create most of their visual content and bring a little thing to their brand image. That’s why I collaborate a lot with their ambassadors, especially with French surfer Clovis Donizetti. Before every new season, I also organize the collection photoshoots for their catalogue and lookbooks. We tend to head to coastal cities in order to link up clothes to the ocean, and bridge city and surfing. It’s always great to discover interesting places and see how humans adapted and developed their lifestyle ad activities depending on the continents and cultures. »

Thomas remembers his very first travel for the brand. A 10-days surf trip to the French island of Guadeloupe, just a month after signing with them. « We also left to California in 2017 before discovering the rough winter in Oregon. No sun for 9 days. We’ve also been chasing waves in Italy and our last trip was in Sweden in order to shoot the next winter’s collection. A nice discovery in terms of both landscape, culture and lifestyle. » The french photographer shoots with all that passes through his way. « I mainly shot this series (seen in this article) of analog pictures with a Canon AE-1 with a 50mm, as well as with a point-and-shoot Olympus mju camera including a 35mm lent by a friend. I also have a Nikonos II to shoot in the water, famous design coming directly from Cousteau’s mind in the early 60s, then Nikon bought it back. I also recently acquired a Russian camera, called Horizon, panoramic style that I can’t wait to try. I also shoot with a Pentax 6×7, quite massive but amazing. It’s not easy to carry it especially on trip due to its weight and format (120mm). »

Weight and format are no big deal for Thomas as he draws inspiration from surf culture legends like Leroy Grannis who created some of the most memorable images that surfing has ever seen. « I remember the DVDs of the X Games and of « Nuits de la Glisse » (Night of the ride). At that time, as a teenager, surfing made me dream but I missed something. I didn’t look further than that at the time. I was hooked by this freestyle culture of BMX and its hectic aspect created from scratch by this american culture. I read the magazines and looked at those guys touring across the US. At age 13,in my teenager’s bedroom in Nantes, I imagined myself riding my bike and taking pictures of these crazy spots, » he says. « Later, I stumbled upon One California Day, which came out 10 years ago. It was probably my first  introduction to the story of longboarding. I wanted to dig into archives, portraits of unique characters in order to learn more about this historical grace of surfing. I discovered the work of Leroy Grannis, through Ron Stoner, Don James and Leo Hetzel. I’ve been blown away by their work. I remember the beach, the light and unique atmosphere from California and Hawaii, the crazy cars with amazing designs, testimony of a past era. Pictures from Arnaud de Rosnay in France in the 60s are also iconic shots. I like the soul of these shots and films, that’s why I slowly try to go back to these cameras, as well as with my surfboards, they both embody this era. I try to do it my way though. »

His way, that’s what makes Thomas’s work stand out. Recently he worked on a book project entitled Impressions. « Last year, I started to search in my external discs of these past 3 years, ended up with 4000 images that I found potentially interesting to use. Choosing the final selection has been a long and difficult process but I managed to gather 150 pictures, » he explains. « Then, I started the layout listening to some jazz to get inspired. After trying among 30 covers and starting from 300 pages, I finally have a final version. The book will be ready and out next week (mid-March, 2019)! » Biarritz-based Thomas Lodin photographer reminds us the aesthetics appeal of surfing and it feels good. 

More of Thomas Lodin’s work on his website.

The post The aesthetics appeal of surfing by Thomas Lodin appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

»Swimming with these gentle giants« by photographer Travis Burke.

I held my breath and dove down toward the darkness. Deep below me I could see whale sharks emerging as they made their way near the surface feeding on plankton. As I turned around, I saw this scene with beautiful rays of light casting down through the water from the early morning sun. Peering through the lens, I snapped a couple photos before starting my ascent back to the surface. 

Dive Master and Marine Biologist Brinkley Davies shared her knowledge and passion for these sharks with me during our 15 hours day on the boat. These whale sharks lack natural predators, but in recent years they have been listed as an endangered species due to shark finning, and other anthropogenic pressures such as fishing operations and plastic pollution.

There is so much we still don’t know about these majestic creatures and it would be a shame to lose them forever. Little things like limiting our use of single use plastics, supporting sustainable tourism and saying no to shark fin soup will go a long way in protecting these and so many other animals that have been around for millions of years!

In a place where many people would easily resort to accepting more money to catch, kill and sell these animals fins, these fisherman have chosen to live in harmony with these animals.

 

»In the middle of the ocean far from anywhere« with Marine biologist, freediver and surfer Brinkley Davies

I have worked with whale sharks for the past few years at home in Australia, in both tourism, and research/conservation, on the Ningaloo Reef, a place that leads the way in whale shark tourism. Teaching people about their importance in our ecosystems and their struggle against extinction due to anthropogenic pressures such as overfishing, being targeted for their fins, and falling victim to plastic pollution. Before this trip I hadn’t seen a whale shark anywhere else, and have been intrigued to see how things were run elsewhere.

After steaming for 4 hours, we arrived at a small boat with winged platforms in the middle of the ocean far from anywhere. With very fine nets dropped into the water periodically around the full moon, a fisherman would live out here for a month, in a tiny wooden hut on the boat the size of a normal household toilet, and fish for the month. 

The whale sharks were attracted to the organic matter that was ground up and falling off the platform into the water, they swam around under this set up, filter feeding on whatever was around, and then diving. 

The Indonesians told me about how they call them the “ Star Sharks«. In a place where many people would easily resort to accepting more money to catch, kill and sell these animals fins, these fisherman have chosen to live in harmony with these animals, and let the odd few tourists who come by every once in a while, jump in and swim with them. 

There was around 7 whale sharks when we first jumped in, and we spent about 2 hours in the water with them. I was thrilled to see not one piece of plastic floating by during this time.

The post One picture, Two stories with Travis Burke & Brinkley Davies appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

Born at the Blue Factory in San Sebastian, the Plastic Family made their way to the Côte des Basques in Biarritz. To celebrate World CleanUp Day, the colorful family of three visited the French beach town on September, 15.

Using the plastic found on the beaches of the Basque Country (Spain & France), Panthalassa decided to ‘dress’ the family in order to help raise awareness about the plastic problem the ocean is facing. 

Over the years, throughout the « Sea and Gather » initiative, Rebecca Kudela, a member of the Panthalassa Society, has been proving her obsession for beach-combing and her passion for design. Her work was a key inspiration for the idea of using art and creativity to encourage people to consume and use less single-use plastics. 

As part of a global environmental movement, the Plastic Family art installation will be travelling around Europe to save our ocean’s biggest threat. Thanks to everyone who stopped by to see the Plastic Family in Biarritz!

Stay tuned to find out where the family is heading next!

Photos: Rebecca Kudela

The post The ‘Plastic Family’ visits Biarritz, France appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

On Friday the 27th of July, we’ve been happy and proud to launch the Panthalassa Blue Factory into the world. Over the years, Panthalassa, brainchild of creative director Sergio Penzo, became a platform known for bringing together some of the world’s most talented creators. Our main motivation is putting a light on the beauty and fragility of the ocean.  According to Sergio Penzo’s words,»this love for the big blue is what inspires the Panthalassa Society so it was natural to choose San Sebastian, a city that lives from and for the sea, as the place to start this new voyage.«

Thank you very much for coming to join in on the celebrations, we hope you had as much fun as we did. Life is all Ocean.

Photos : Philipp von Buch

Photo Clovis Donizetti: Thomas Lodin

The post Panthalassa officially opens The Blue Factory appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

We first met JD San Jose at the 2014 Fish Frye on Long Beach, NY, noticing his unusual, angular boards, reminiscent of Manual Caro’s Mandala Custom Shapes. After chatting with JD in the water and learning about his backyard shaping bay in Port Monmouth, Northern New Jersey, we drove out to meet him and discuss his efforts to master the three disciplines of surfboard making: shaping, glassing and sanding.

Our interview took place over a relaxed lunch and iced teas in JD’s yard, to the misplaced joy of his dog, who was under the impression that lunch might be a shared enterprise… Firstly, we wanted to know where JD had first discovered his desire to shape.

“I’ve wanted to shape since I was a kid. I started surfing aged twelve. I didn’t grow up on the beach – I grew up thirty miles North of here. So it wasn’t like I could just walk to the beach. Magazines were huge for me. As cliche as it is, the movie North Shore is really where I first saw shaping! It’s funny because Rick Kane was going to art school to become a graphic designer – that’s what my career path is, as a graphic designer. Without knowing it, that movie was pretty influential on my life. I also used to call the surf report hotline, even though I had no way to get to the beach, I would call just to get the report – I wanted to hear what was going on!”

“Skipping ahead, Green Light Surf Supply eventually opened up in Belmar so I walked in there and got a blank. I bought a cheap electric planer and taught myself how to shape – I used the internet to research it. This was 2010, so I was thirty-four. The thing is, I rode so many boards before I started. I had all this knowledge of all these things I wanted to try. Otherwise how else are you going to learn about what this shape is doing unless you ride it for some time?”

Naturally we were curious about how JD had tried so many boards living in New Jersey. It soon became clear that he had been bitten bad by the board collecting bug. 

“I was a board addict! For a good seven or eight years before I started shaping I was buying and selling everything I could. There were so many boards I wanted to try and I got to try everything. I probably had a hundred to two hundred boards during those years. It was almost like every other week I was buying a board. And I’m here [New Jersey], so everyone filters over to the East Coast from the West Coast and there was a lot of diversity in the boards available. Craigslist was huge for me. This was like early 2000s, during the height of the fish renaissance, and bonzers, single fins – it seemed easier back then. I don’t do it now obviously because I shape myself!”.

“That was how I learned about surfboard design – from riding. I’d say the majority were California shaped boards. And now we have different shapes on the East Coast from one town to the next. I found those California boards were awesome on the right day. But on average days here, a lot of them were just difficult to ride. Whether it was the weight, design, fin setup. There was one board I was dying to try for years – an Australian Geoff McCoy. After trying that I felt like I’d tried everything I wanted to try. I wanted to take all that stuff I learned from those boards and apply it to something that’s just going to work better for me here in New Jersey. That’s how it started.”

Photos: Julien Roubinet

Discover Ice-cream Headaches project online and purchase the limited edition book.

Come celebrate the launch of Ice Cream Headaches in New York on March, 29 at Pilgrim.

The post Ice-cream Headaches: JD San Jose appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

By any standards, Chris Gentile has had an extraordinary career. He’s an accomplished artist, carpenter and photographer. He’s been a creative director for Condé Nast. In 2007 he set up Mollusk Surf Shop in Brooklyn and in 2012 he launched Pilgrim Surf + Supply, opening a second location in Amagansett the following year. In 2015, Pilgrim opened a permanent store in Tokyo after a successful pop-up collaboration with the Japanese fashion and lifestyle conduit, Beams. We met Chris for a dawn raid at Ditch Plains, Montauk before heading to his house in Amagansett to chat.  

As someone who has spent his life making things, from sandcastles on the beach as a child, to sculptures and photographs, Chris’ take on the tradition of surfboard making is fundamental to determining which boards are sold at Pilgrim. He personally orders every board, on paper, directly from the shaper. He tells us: “It’s my favourite part of my job!”

“I want to celebrate the backyard innovators who are obsessed with crafting surfboards and I truly believe that the backbone of surfboard making is a folk art.”

“You can’t go to school to learn to shape. You can be self taught and go at it by eye – a lot of the early guys started like this. Or there are people like Josh Hall who was taken under the wing of Skip Frye. Skip took this lifetime of evolvement and handed it to Josh as a teenager. Now he has fifteen years experience making his own boards. It’s very similar, but Josh’s fusion makes the boards modern and up to date. That’s folk art. It’s a trust and a sharing of knowledge that makes the boards unique and special.«

Photos: Julien Roubinet

Discover Ice-cream Headaches project online and purchase the limited edition book.

The post Ice-cream Headaches: Chris Gentile appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

Over a span of four years, writer Ed Thompson and photographer Julien Roubinet—, who met surfing at Rockaway Beach—have, logged more than 4,000 miles driving from Eastern Long Island to Cape May, interviewing and photographing surfers, surfboard shapers, artists and documentarians who contribute to the scene. From local legend and Montauk fisherman Charlie Weimar to Pulitzer-prize-winning author William Finnegan to professional surfers with global followings such as Quincy Davis, Mikey De Temple and Balaram Stack, the New York surf community is a colorful one. Ice Cream Headaches highlights the surfers who experiment with new forms, materials, ideas and surfing styles in the often-frigid Atlantic waves. In support of their coming book, Panthalassa decided to publish a curated selection of Ice-cream Headaches stories.

The first portrait drives us to the trendy hotspot of Flatiron District, an area of Manhattan that features an abundance of Beaux-Arts, and home to several iconic NYC skyscrapers. British author Ed Thompson and French photographer Julien Roubinet met renowned American photographer Michael Halsband, author of the 1985 Boxing Gloves series including the iconic black-and-white photo of Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat wearing Everlast shorts and gloves. During four decades, Halsband has photographed some of the most celebrated artists, pop culture icons, surfers, rock and roll legends, writers, and musicians of our time, including James Brown, David Byrne, Johnny Depp, A.M. Homes, Iggy Pop, Louise Nevelson, Klaus Nomi, Nam June Paik, Hunter S. Thompson, Andy Warhol, and many more.

We interrupted Michael eating a bowl of granola at the kitchen table in his huge triangular studio in the Flatiron District. Before we’d even sat down, he began sharing stories about finding his feet surfing the sand bars of Long Island and setting off on what became perhaps one of the longest surf trips in history…

In the late nineties Michael spent almost four years touring the world with Joel Tudor to shoot photographs for their collaborative project Surf Book and the Super-8 footage that would become Surf Movie.

Surf Movie is a captivatingly simple collection of 14 uncut reels of Super-8 footage Michael shot of the greatest surfers of the last 30 years, mostly free riding at their favorite breaks in California, Hawaii and Australia. It’s refreshingly honest. A young Kelly Slater is seen losing his board and swimming hard to catch up as it washes shorewards. Joel Tudor is caught missing a killer wave, though he nails a dozen more.

Surf Book, meanwhile, portrays many heroes of surf culture mostly out of the water. Michael let his each of his subjects choose the date, time, location and clothing they wanted for their shoot, resulting in locations from shaping bays and car parks to bars and backyards. The portraits, shot entirely on film using medium format and 35mm cameras, capture a fifty year spread of the people who influenced surfing technologically and spiritually, from master shapers like Donald Takyama to surf champions like Jerry Lopez and Nat Young.

“As I kept going with Joel, I was learning from the best because they just sit and talk about it all day long and after a while it finally gets into your head. Because needless to say if you’re surfing a board and you don’t have any sense of how it functions, you can’t really understand what’s going wrong. If you have the ability to keep playing with shapes you can say well if I pull it in a little tighter I’ll get this kind of performance, and if I keep it fat I’ll get this kind, and then you can marry the two ideas. When you get one thing you take away another. You’re always sacrificing, you’re never going to find the one board. I’ve surfed this board on beach breaks and point breaks on Long Island but truthfully it never performs perfectly on either wave – it’s just a good all round board as they say. A 7’9″ egg. I should probably have a 7’2″ but then when you’re on a point break you’d have to be so on the inside you’re going to get overtaken all the time because everyone else on a 7’6″. It’s about figuring out how different boards work and then it’s like where’s the sweet spot for just having fun? At a certain point you just lose that, so you have to keep coming back to that idea. The point is go out and have a good time – who gives a shit about all that…”

Photos: Julien Roubinet

Discover Ice-cream Headaches project online and purchase the limited edition book.

The post Ice-cream Headaches: Michael Halsband appeared first on PANTHALASSA.

Paris-based photographer David Ledoux has been traveling the world for the last decade. Australia, South Africa, Senegal, Ouganda… Best known as a fashion photographer working for publications like Dazed, GQ, Anothermagazine, Intersection, or VICE, David has also been documenting subcultures around the globe. « I first left to Australia in 2000 for a year and eventually stayed there for 4 years, » he said. « Then, I came back to Europe, I worked in London for a few years and, little by little, photo report became my thing!»

Recently, Maison W Agency gave the French photographer carte blanche to cover the vast subject which represent the surf communities in the South-West of France and depict their ordinary daily routine. « Surf’s Up » sheds light on groups of friends united around surfing. 

« Communities have always been a very global phenomenon. Back in Australia, I met the guys from the Maroubra Beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, called the Bra Boys, known for being a notorious gang centered on surf culture. It’s really interesting to witness this notion of gang, and see how people live and evolve as a group. » Thanks to his circle of friends in the Basque Country, David Ledoux met the ALC surf group, based in Biarritz. « They built a beach house from wood, they have their own surf spot and wear the same ALC tattoo. There’s a real sense of belonging. » Tropical Youth and Nonsense are also local surf groups sharing the same passion for surfing. « I was also looking to depict a hippie-like style but hippies in France tend to disappear, so I tried to meet travelers and capture people with alternative lifestyle living in their van. »

During two weeks, David Ledoux just hung out with locals, had dinners, and surf sessions at dawn. « They were all very nice. I would have liked to spend more time documenting their life, leave on a road trip with them, highlight a feeling of proximity and be able to produce more intimate shots » David adds. « But I’m overall very happy with the cinematographic aspect of the series. I always work with the intention to make people beautiful, stunning or funny. Throughout my works, I tend to always give a positive message. »

In last September, David Ledoux was part of the Tribute to Tribe exhibition organized by Maison W in Galerie Joseph in Paris, an evening to visually celebrate the community of surfers in France.

Discover David Ledoux’s work online.

The post Surf’s up by David Ledoux appeared first on PANTHALASSA.