In Turner's era, one common subject for expressing <strong>the</strong> ocean's fatal power was a shipwreck, as in th<strong>is</strong> Turner picture, The Shipwreck. The Poetry Of Motion One great challenge for surf photographers <strong>is</strong> to convey dynamic motion in a single frame. Patrick Trefz meets it inspired by a variety of techniques from <strong>the</strong> h<strong>is</strong>tory of photography. Some techniques are real<strong>is</strong>tic, such as <strong>the</strong> use of <strong>the</strong> shutter's mechanical potential to reveal moments hidden to <strong>the</strong> unaided eye. In Trefz's image of Anthony Tashnick [88], <strong>the</strong> athlete <strong>is</strong> caught in a seemingly weightless pose while fin<strong>is</strong>hing a close-out wave on a floater. <strong>Th<strong>is</strong></strong> anatomy of movement dates to <strong>the</strong> beginnings of action photography, with Eadweard Muybridge's studies of locomotion, as in th<strong>is</strong> series, clarifying when a galloping horse's legs leave <strong>the</strong> ground. In such an image, as in photos of big-wave surfing, contrasts in scale measure fragile humans and <strong>the</strong>ir technologies against <strong>the</strong> might of <strong>the</strong> raging sea. Similar to Ke'Iki Deathpound, Turner expresses out-of-control elements by blurring <strong>the</strong> boundaries among forms, colors, and textures, confusing <strong>the</strong> d<strong>is</strong>tinctions among water, air, and solids. At <strong>the</strong> same time, Trefz's big wave photos do away with <strong>the</strong> melodrama of <strong>the</strong> conventional sublime. In contrast to Turner's focus on death and destruction, Flea [45], Mel [16], Clark [55], Replogle [119 ], and o<strong>the</strong>rs snatch fleeting moments of human triumph. Joseph Mallord William Turner, The Shipwreck (1805). ©Tate, London 2011. O<strong>the</strong>r images in Surfers' Blood animate a still image with techniques from art photography. Eadweard Muybridge, Animal Locomotion, plate 626 (1878). Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film. Masters Of The Craft Both Turner's sailors and <strong>the</strong> surfers depicted by Trefz survive through a combination of skill, daring, experience, and cunning that <strong>the</strong> great novel<strong>is</strong>t of <strong>the</strong> sea, Joseph Conrad, called craft. Admiration for craft threads through <strong>the</strong> photos in Surfers' Blood, and <strong>the</strong> subject has a d<strong>is</strong>tingu<strong>is</strong>hed pictorial lineage. In photos of shapers' studios, whe<strong>the</strong>r Jeff Clark inviting us into h<strong>is</strong> workshop [54], or Jed Noll studying h<strong>is</strong> fa<strong>the</strong>r, Greg Noll, carving a board [22], Trefz recalls <strong>the</strong> importance of <strong>the</strong> studio scene in highlighting <strong>the</strong> nobility of finely skilled work and art. The scene can stage a famous painter before h<strong>is</strong> easel surrounded by apprentices and admirers, as in <strong>the</strong> 19 th century painter Gustave Courbet's The Art<strong>is</strong>t's Studio. It can also offer a more intimate glimpse of <strong>the</strong> young art<strong>is</strong>t, such as th<strong>is</strong> picture by <strong>the</strong> 17 th century painter, Fabritius Barent. In Trefz's photo, Akila Aipa [37], too, a young man <strong>is</strong> absorbed to <strong>the</strong> point of ignoring <strong>the</strong> viewer. The shaper's face <strong>is</strong> hidden and Trefz shows us <strong>the</strong> dignity of h<strong>is</strong> work through h<strong>is</strong> careful hands, h<strong>is</strong> tools, and h<strong>is</strong> material. The man shaping, Alkila Aipa, <strong>is</strong> carrying on a craft inherited from h<strong>is</strong> fa<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> legendary Hawaiian shaper and surfer Ben Aipa. The shot of Josh Mulcoy in a barrel [73] recalls <strong>the</strong> effect of solarization pioneered by <strong>the</strong> surreal<strong>is</strong>t photographer Man Ray. As <strong>the</strong> image below by Man Ray illustrates, solarization can create <strong>the</strong> impression that a body <strong>is</strong> floating, contrary to <strong>the</strong> laws of gravity, suffused with radiant energy. Driving in <strong>the</strong> eye of a barrel, Josh Mulcoy defies gravity as well. At <strong>the</strong> same time, note <strong>the</strong> difference in tone: Josh Mulcoy's assertive power <strong>is</strong> crackling and electric, in contrast to <strong>the</strong> dreamy, passive floating muses of Man Ray. Destabilizing <strong>the</strong> viewer's points of reference <strong>is</strong> ano<strong>the</strong>r way art photography animates a frozen frame. Trefz speaks admiringly of California Surf Sequence, by <strong>the</strong> iconic American landscape photographer Ansel Adams. In th<strong>is</strong> third image in Adams's sequence, a close-up of foam, Adams flips to <strong>the</strong> top of our field of view an event that occurs on <strong>the</strong> ground. Adams fur<strong>the</strong>r sets our brains in motion by making it hard to d<strong>is</strong>tingu<strong>is</strong>h sea, stone, and foam, all unified as shades of gray. Trefz's image of Cheyne Magnusson's backflip [7] in a landscape remin<strong>is</strong>cent of Adams's, similarly confuses our eye to enhance our appreciation of Magnusson's feat. While commercial photography would focus on Magnusson's leap, Trefz puts it so far in <strong>the</strong> background that we locate it with some d<strong>is</strong>belief. The image fur<strong>the</strong>r d<strong>is</strong>orients us by using black and white to confuse <strong>the</strong> elemental differences between rock and water. The frothing water intimates <strong>the</strong> danger of a m<strong>is</strong>sed landing by appearing as solid as <strong>the</strong> ominous rocks. Fabritius Barent, Young Painter in H<strong>is</strong> Studio (1655–1660). Louvre, Par<strong>is</strong>, Réunion des Musées Nationaux | Art Resource, ny. May Ray, Solarization (1929). ©2011 Man Ray Trust | Art<strong>is</strong>ts Rights Society (ars), ny /adagp, Par<strong>is</strong>. Image courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film. The importance of apprenticeship in <strong>the</strong> crafts of <strong>the</strong> sea runs throughout Trefz's photos of parents and children, from Surfers' Blood's pairing of Bill and Josh Mulcoy [72, 73] to Ramon Navarro paired with h<strong>is</strong> f<strong>is</strong>herman fa<strong>the</strong>r weaving kelp [56, 57]. Along with celebrating bloodlines, Trefz's photos pay homage to <strong>the</strong> sport's venerable masters. Trefz often composes h<strong>is</strong> portraits of <strong>the</strong> great men of surfing, such as Wally Fro<strong>is</strong>eth [116], Buffalo Keaulana [8], and Peter Cole [59], in keeping with a human<strong>is</strong>t tradition of portrait painting, which passed into <strong>the</strong> new medium of photography in <strong>the</strong> 19 th century. As shown by Julia Margaret Cameron's photograph of <strong>the</strong> poet, Albert Tennyson, such portraits turned <strong>the</strong> great man into a timeless bust, often shot in 3/4 or profile against a studio background. When Patrick Trefz describes h<strong>is</strong> art<strong>is</strong>tic apprenticeship, he recalls a childhood shuttling between divorced parents — h<strong>is</strong> Mom in Düsseldorf, h<strong>is</strong> Dad in Par<strong>is</strong> — along with early exposure to world travel and a slew of art galleries and museums. He mentions falling in love with <strong>the</strong> colorful, playful Centre Pompidou at <strong>the</strong> age of eight. Par<strong>is</strong> was and <strong>is</strong> a great movie city, and Trefz singles out Wim Wenders's Par<strong>is</strong>, Texas as making a particular impression. Perhaps <strong>the</strong> eerie glow suffusing Wenders's cinematography of <strong>the</strong> American West <strong>is</strong> an inspiration for <strong>the</strong> great open skies, which are <strong>the</strong> backdrop for so many images in Surfers' Blood. These skies intimate an o<strong>the</strong>rworldly transcendence. They remind us of <strong>the</strong> mystery and mortality coursing through surfers' blood, along with <strong>the</strong> commitment and <strong>the</strong> passion. Julia Margaret Cameron, Illustration to Alfred, Lord Tennyson's “Idylls of <strong>the</strong> King” and O<strong>the</strong>r Poems, London: 1875. (1865). Courtesy of George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film. Trefz diverges from <strong>the</strong> tradition of legendary portraiture, however, when he also photographs masters of <strong>the</strong> craft in action. Thus, Bill Mulcoy, tucked into a majestic wall of water, in a harmony of aqua, tan, and white [114]. Ansel Adams, Surf Sequence iii, California Coast (ca. 1940). ©2011 The Ansel Adams Publ<strong>is</strong>hing Rights Trust. Image courtesy of Center for Creative Photography. 66 67
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