375 Pages Of Unseen Images And Interviews From Trilogy: New Wave

Click here to read Quinn’s entire BTS perspective, and click here to buy a Trilogy Now photobook.

“We’ve been trying to get the Trilogy product out the door for a long time dude,” laughed photographer Quinn Matthews, when I phoned him this week. “It honestly took two years. It’s nuts. But it’s finally out there for people to see, which is sick because for a while it just lingered in distribution.”

The film, produced by Taylor Steele, Evan Slater, and Enich Harris debuted on Stab Premium two weeks ago, alongside some words from director Andrew Mackenzie. 

Quinn’s inclusion on the massive production crew came at the very last minute — as the creator of the accompanying ‘Trilogy Now’ photobook. 

“I guess Taylor Steele did a photo-book with Todd Glaser for Proximity, and they found the book to be something they really valued and enjoyed about the process,” explained Quinn. “Just having a tangible item, where you don’t have to watch a movie every time you want to see it. They asked Griffin who he wanted to use, and I guess he threw my name out there. They called me like, ‘we leave for Peru in two days’ and it just started like that.

“By the end of it, I had probably shot close to 400 rolls of film, and then a countless amount of digital photos. I didn’t think the book was going to be nearly as long it ended up being. It’s almost 400 pages.

“We ended up doing a special edition that has a slip cover and a whole alternate cover and everything. It was pretty cool, because surf budgets are pretty lean, but this one was quite the opposite. It was a blank canvas of whatever we wanted to make. They’re basically not making any money on the book if we sell out. The profits are negligible. They did it just to do it, which is cool. In their mind, it’s just a companion piece to the film.“

The book features off-the-cuff interviews with Taylor Steele, Andrew Mackenzie, Shane and Jackson Dorian, unheard conversations with the surfers, and candid travel notes from Quinn himself.

“Because this book is almost entirely funded straight through Andy and his production company, there was zero oversight as far as sponsors are concerned,” says Quinn. “I can talk about some of the things we did that sponsors probably wouldn’t want out there in the world. We could just be a bit more honest about everybody hanging out, having more of an authentic surf trip than a really polished thing. 

Click here to read Quinn’s entire BTS perspective, and click here to buy a Trilogy Now photobook.