A vibrant insider portrait of 1970s surf culture, with a foreword by Pulitzer Prize–winner William Finnegan. Drawn from Jeff Divine’s vast personal archive, these photographs capture a pre-commercialized surfing world shaped by hippie influence, handmade boards, and a tight-knit community devoted to “Mother Ocean.”

Shot for Surfer magazine, Divine’s images—spanning California, Baja, and Oahu—reveal both the everyday scene and the athleticism of the era’s surf heroes.

Jeff Divine (born 1950) began photographing surfers in 1966 and went on to serve as photo editor for Surfer and The Surfer’s Journal. His work has been exhibited globally, and in 2019 he was inducted into the Huntington Beach Surfing Walk of Fame for his five-decade contribution to surf culture.