Vintage Surf Photographer series 4 : John Witzig

Vintage Surf Photographer series 4 : John Witzig

by Sam Bleakley

Sydney raised Australian surf journalist and photographer John Witzig was cofounder of Tracks magazine in 1970, but best known for "We're Tops Now," his 1967 Surfer magazine article that celebrated the new generation of Australian surfers while gleefully bashing the Californians. In 1966 he wrote much of the July-August "New Era" issue of Surfing World, in which the magazine seemed to dismiss 1964 World Champion Midget Farrelly in favour of younger Australians Nat Young and Bob McTavish. When Young rode to victory in the 1966 World Championships - beating California favourite David Nuuhiwa and rendering the Nuuhiwa-led noseriding style of surfing obsolete (for the time being) - Witzig was justifiably upset at how the American surf press seemed to downplay the result. Young and the Australians had in fact changed the course of surfing, and the American's were avoiding the topic. "We're on top," he summed up, "and will continue to dominate." Witzig spent years immersed in the waters off the Australian coast, snapping images of surfers and their bohemian, back-to-nature lifestyle as the popularity of surfing soared.

Nigel Coates (left) and Murray Smith (right) at Smiths Beach, Western Australia, 1972.

Mark Richards surfing at Haleiwa, on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, 1976.

Geof Walters on the sandy track down to Angourie Beach, North New South Wales, 1972.

Surf House, Torquay, Victoria, 1970.

Spectators watching surfers compete at Bells Beach, Victoria.

Ted Spencer at the Bells Beach event held every Easter, 1971.

Witzig (left) and Nigel Coates (right) heading to Western Australia on Christmas Day, 1970.

Wayne Lynch when he emerged from seclusion to surf in the Coke Classic in Sydney, 1978.

Camp ground under peppermint trees near Margaret River, south of Perth, 1971.