The Pipeline, a surf wave off Ehukai Beach Park, in Oahu, Hawaii, photographed by Jeff Divine, 2004.

*Top,* the surfers David Nuuhiwa and John Gale at Laguna Canyon, California, 1971; *above,* Pupukea, a residential community in Oahu, 2002.

*Top,* the surfer Dave “Rasta” Rastovich, Indonesia, 2003; *above,* the path to Emerald Bay, a wave in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, 2001.

*Top,* the surfer Tom Carroll on the Pipeline, 1980; *above,* a group studying Lance’s Right, a wave off Sipore Island, Indonesia, 2004.

Surf’s Up!

A dazzling new coffee-table book captures five decades of American surfing culture through Jeff Divine’s lens

Jeff Divine spent five decades at Surfer magazine. He joined as a staff photographer in 1971 and later became the photo editor, a vantage point that allowed him to witness—and document—much of modern surfing history. Pipeline, on Oahu’s North Shore, in its early-1970s golden age. Jeffreys Bay, on South Africa’s Eastern Cape, as it emerged as an international surfing destination. The first boat expeditions into Indonesia’s remote Mentawai Islands. And the rise of Kelly Slater, who would become the sport’s most decorated champion.

Using Kodachrome slide film and a 1,000-mm. lens, Divine shot from the water at Sunset Beach—another of the North Shore’s legendary breaks—poised for the moment when wave, light, and surfer aligned. This was long before digital photography. Each roll contained 36 frames, and Divine often had to wait three days for the film to return from the lab before seeing his creations.