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Jake Halstead, Blacks, US

Throw the smallest hint of meat to a pack of hungry wolves and they’ll go crazy for it. Throw some swell at a pack of wave-starved surfers and you’ll likely get a similar effect.

“Only the third south swell of the summer just got here and the crowds are out of control at Lowers and that whole zone,” says photog Jimmy Wilson. Not one to jostle with hundreds of others to link up with his subjects, Jimmy and pal Oli Kurtz decided to try and find some seclusion. “We drove south to go surf La Jolla reefs, straight into gridlock traffic, just for something different. We were averaging about eight km an hour and were just struggling, until I texted Jake Halstead. He told us to turn around and go to Blacks with him and his friends, one of which has the key to drive down to the beach.” The nature of access to Blacks will trim any crowd down, so Jimmy and Oliver took the offer. “It ended up being pretty fun. If you’d walked all the way down you’d have been bummed, but driving in is boss shit.”

So, Jake (pictured here) doesn’t just have a quick way into Blacks – he also has a mean backside throw.

Photographer profile

Jimmy Wilson

Jimmy Wilson. Jimmicane. Jimbrodamus. Which blows your hair back? Take your pick and strap in, ’cause Jimmy rides bumpy. You want the truth? Jimmy will give you his truths in the blink of an eye and won’t apologise if it stings. Opinions are nothing on their own, so the 26-year-old certainly has the skills to back up. A good photo, for Jimmicane, is ineffable. “You know right when you lay your eyes on it,” he says. One such photo was the image of Kelly Slater’s full-rotation air-reverse during the Quiksilver Pro, New York against Taj Burrow. “It was rewarding to get such a special image with literally hundreds of other lenses shooting the same maneuver. Also the fact that I’m from the East Coast and that was an iconic event and iconic air by the greatest surfer of all time. I feel very fortunate.” And if you ask Jimmy where surf photography’s headed, it’s a simple answer: “iPhones”.

More photos from Jimmy Wilson