Kelly’s stoke in a frame. Photo: Morgan Maassen
How practical is it to make a living as a surf photographer? I’m sure plenty of people are willing to work for the perks of the lifestyle, but how’s the return on the huge equipment investment?
Right now, I’d say that the ten best surf photographers in the world are making over $100,000 and the top five are making well over $150,000. On top of that, like I mentioned about myself, I’m only technically working 100 days a year. Any day of the year, I can syndicate a lot of my work to any of the magazines and I can use my work to appeal to brands outside of the surf industry. So when I’m not working for Quiksilver, I’ve been able to use that work to get jobs for Wilson, Nike, and Apple. I guess it’s just a matter of how productive you are. If you want to be a staff photographer at a magazine and don’t look beyond that, then the salary is $25,000 a year. If you have the drive and can bring intelligence, marketability and good work ethic, you’ll go far and you can make a lot of money. Chris Burkard’s an amazing example. I doubt he’ll be shooting surf in a couple years, even though every single commercial job he’s getting now outside the surf industry is based off his surf portfolio. So it’s interesting to watch surf photographers grow and expand their work outside our sport.
I saw that you have an agent. How does that relationship work?
I don’t need an agent for my surf work, but my agent helps secure work for me outside the surf industry. They have relationships with ad agencies, art buyers, companies and magazines that I wouldn’t have access to otherwise.
You’ve developed your career during the same time that Dane has become a surf celebrity. You work a lot with he and Stephanie Gilmore who are among a newer crop of celebrities whose visibility has grown beyond just surf fans. What is it like travelling and dealing with that level of stardom?
It’s surreal. Kelly has had it for years, since probably before he dated Pam Anderson. There reality is, they are beautiful, intelligent, multi-faceted surfers that also happen to have a multitude of world titles underneath their belt, which is a real platform for their awesomeness. It’s kind of new. I grew up looking up to Kelly obviously, but with Steph and Dane, I’ve been able to watch it happen. We’ll be in a supermarket in Paris or something and there will be people following around Dane taking photos of him. Or we’ve been in the most random place in Mexico and people are lining up to take a photo of Steph. I think it’s incredible for the sport and it’s been an honor to watch it and tag along. I think that they are paving the way for surfers to come. Surfing is so low-fi and so low key and so few people do it. It’s cool to see people break that mold and reach up and out and achieve celebrity and fame and be ambassadors of the sport. Some of the biggest ambassadors for music are the worst, like the pop stars. But it’s cool that in the case of surfing that there is someone as awesome and beautiful and smart and funny as both Steph and Kelly. They appeal to the masses and they can represent surfing and our lifestyle. And from a selfish perspective, I can hitch along on some of the trips and my photos can be seen that way.
To see more of David’s work, check out www.surfsplendorpodcast.com. See more of Morgan’s work here.
