Rare Hawaiian Surf Photography Book Fetches $27,000 At Auction

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A rare Hawaii photography book considered to be the first book on surfing sold for $27,000 at an auction in California yesterday, according to a press release. “The Surf Riders of Hawaii” is composed of six heavy sheets of woven brown paper mounted with eight gelatin-silver photographs of Native Hawaiian surfers, including Duke Kahanamoku.

“The Surf Riders of Hawaii” was produced by A.R. Gurrey, Jr., widely recognized as the father of surf photography. The 1914 book is one of only eight known copies and helped spread surfing’s appeal from Hawaii to California.

Proceeds from the auction benefitted the Surfing Heritage & Cultural Center in San Clemente, California. Scott Bass, director of the Surfing Heritage Vintage Surf Auction, was aptly “stoked” about the “solid showing” at the Orange County event. “Gurrey set the standard for surf photography as we know it today,” he noted in an interview with KPBS.

Check out a video about the book below, courtesy of the Quiksilver Waterman Collection.

Photo credit: The Surfing Heritage Vintage Surf Auction.

— Alice Terry

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