archival ink print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag

Artwork date: 2017
Signature details: signed
Edition: number 1 from an edition of 10

(1)

image size: 32 x 49.5 cm, sheet size: 42 x 59.5 cm, unframed

Notes:

"Alan van Gysen is one of the world’s most respected surf photographers. With an inextinguishable drive and natural flair, he has spent the past twenty years carving his mark into the international scene. His dedication to his craft has captured the artistry of South Africa’s and the world’s top surfers." – Brendon Bosworth As a surf photojournalist, he has travelled the planet to cover stories for major surfing magazines. His lens has also reached beyond the commercial and the wellknown surfing personalities and predictable narratives, to tell the story of lesserknown African surf culture. Van Gysen’s work o"ers surfers from the continent a voice and place in a highly commercialised industry, presenting a counter-vision to how surfing is generally projected.He is also involved in projects like The 9 Miles Project and Waves for Change that have been crucial in supporting at-risk youth to be part of a sport that is often considered exclusionary and elitist. At present he is working with the team from Mami Wata on AfroSurf – the first book of its kind to document African surf culture - a project which has already received international backing and interest. "South African professional surfer Michael February was elevated to hero status in 2017/18 when he qualified for the World Surf League (WSL), becoming what many still regard as the first black African surfer to qualify for the championship surfing tour. After choosing the number 54 as his world tour jersey number – representative

of Africa as a whole, and because of his graceful style, he quickly garnered a cult following within African surf culture and the global surf community. Pictured here during the making of his seminal surf and music film Nu Rythmo, M-Feb, as he is a"ectionately known, surfs past local fishermen refuelling their vessel for the day ahead on a quiet stretch of coast in Ghana". "Shortly after surfing was introduced to the community on Tarkwa Island, Lagos, by Nigerian-born John Micheletti, a strong, unique surf culture emerged across Africa's largest city. Within the protected confines of the manmade piers and break walls of the major shipping lane in Lagos, a wave unlike any other in Africa was born by the fortunate ‘accident’ of angle, length and direction of concrete facing into the powerful Atlantic. One of Tarkwa's upcoming talents waits for the incoming tide, while in the background the most ambitious project in Africa, Atlantic City, becomes a reality".