‘Surfer Magazine: 1960-2020’ Celebrates a Surfing Icon

For 60 years, Surfer magazine was at the epicenter of surf culture. The magazine offered a mix of travel articles, interviews with surfers, contest recaps, surf break profiles, and big-wave pictorials. Now, photographer and former Surfer photo editor Ryan Ellis is celebrating that history in Surfer Magazine: 1960-2020. The new book is a compendium of some of the magazine’s best covers and interior pages.

Founded in 1960 by John Severson, a surfer, artist, and filmmaker, Surfer was the “bible of surfing.” Thanks to some of the world’s best photographers, writers, and graphic designers, Surfer became the sport’s leading voice.

Taking from the magazine’s extensive archive, Ellis shows how Surfer covered the evolution of surfing, surfstyle, and design. In Surfer Magazine: 1960-2020, readers can follow a chronological progression of the sport—and its accompanying gear and style. The book also documents the development of surfers over 60 years. What begins in the 1960s with Mickey Dora leads to Kelly Slater and Laird Hamilton.

Surfer Magazine: 1960-2020 is the ideal book for surf aficionados and anyone interested in the history of surfing and surf culture. The book is scheduled for release on June 28. You can find pre-orders available, here.

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