Outtake of the two best surfers in the world, Huntington Beach, August 2012

The Incredible Elation Of Seeing Beautiful Things Oiled With Dynamism, Coolness, Vitality And Grooviness…

And, on this bright and slippery and twisted Californian evening, we are presented with John John Florence, camera, and Dane Reynolds, face.

The scene is in place five streets back from the Huntington beachfront, near the house John John rents during the US Open in August 2012. Golden parcels of light parachute through the roofs and streets. There is no air pollution to clutter the molecules and if you lived on a hill you would be able to see for miles.

John John squints at Mr Reynolds though the viewfinder of his Leica M7 rangefinder camera. He twists the barrel of the 35mm f2 lens until the two focal images sit perfectly atop each other.

“Who do you want to look like on the cover?” he says, from his position in a deep squat.

“I want to look like Luke Stedman!” hoots Dane.

There is nothing so promising or so warm as an engaged Dane Reynolds. It’s a measure of his integrity and depth of character when he and his gal Courtney arrive at the shoot 30 minute early.

“Can the photographer focus up that close?” continues Dane.

“Yep, yep, but don’t call me the photographer, it gets me too nervous” says John John, who is squeezed by brain fatigue but who is also pumped-up by the candidate’s warmth.

The shoot continues.

Dane performs like a circus tumbler, an actor, a buffoon. It’s a light comic business of the sort you don’t normally see on a photo shoot involving professional sportsmen. Dane’s guard is lowered and his humour, often shielded, is present in great measure.

John John isn’t a master of technique, but he has the one thing that matters more than anything in this game, ACCESS.

Their mutual respect means John John sweats on the quality of the photo and it puts Reynolds in such a benevolent mood he ain’t afraid to step outside the normal boundaries of cool.

Portraits are something Stab loves because they present the human beings who inspire us so in this sport of surfing in new lights, and under fresh scrutiny.

And, thusly, the book is called Give Face: the accidental art of portrait photography.

Check the shoot

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