Black-surfers

For more than twenty-five years, Grant Hobson has been photographing the Chain of Bays region of South Australia's Eyre Peninsula. The region features isolated beaches and a pristine environment that makes the traveling surfer's search for the perfect wave an enticing quest. Local surfers are often in a unique position to observe wildlife, the land and the sea. They are well-placed to see the effects of environmental degradation. Hobson suggests the spiritual connection between surfer and nature in Black-surfers (2010): a surfer, meditating in the lotus position, is superimposed over a rarely seen death adder. The totemic content in this work also suggests the venom with which surfers in the Chain of Bays may be prepared to use to protect their territory. Surfing began as a small-scale subculture but is now the foundation of what Hobson calls "the insatiable publicity meat grinder of the international commercial surf industry." All of the surfers in Hobson's photographs are genuine west coast people located in images at breaks on the Chain of Bays. In protest they wear highly branded apparel produced by companies founded in small Australian coastal communities. These companies are now owned by international corporations listed on the stock exchange trading on the credibility of yesteryear to entice the elusive nomadic cultural aspirant of today. The surfer in Cyan-tyringa (2010) strikes a noble pose; he seems like an honoured veteran of surfing's endless summer.