Style in surfing is a strange thing. It’s hard to describe exactly what makes a surfer stylish, but it’s not hard to notice when a surfer has it. Style, though, isn’t static. It, like everything else, evolves. Over time, surfers will be influenced by other surfers, taking tiny bits here and there until their own style is developed into something new entirely.
There are only a handful of surfers, however, who can rightly lay claim to the fact that they had an enormous influence over the style of millions of surfers around the world. Surfers like Craig Anderson. Surfers like Rob Machado. And surfers like the undisputed style master, Gerry Lopez. In the video above, Gerry talks about the evolution of style, how it’s changed over the years, and why he surfs the way he does.
“My style is a throwback,” he said. “It’s just leaning to the old style. I remember the guys who just rode across the wave and they looked like they were having a good time just standing there.”
I was lucky enough to have a long, rambling chat with Lopez a few years back. I sat in my truck on the side of the PCH, because the cell service at my house was non-existent. I’m sure it was just one of thousands of interviews he’s done, but to me, it was a conversation that will stick with me forever.
“Surfing is one of the best metaphors for life,” he told me. “Out in the surf, everything’s moving; everything’s happening. It never holds still, and life’s the same way. It doesn’t hold still for you, either. If you don’t move with it, life, just like the wave, will pass you right by. You have to be paying attention; you have to be spontaneous; you have to be able to go with the flow. If you can’t… I don’t know, maybe you better find something a little more static.”
This is the third installment of a four-part series from Visual and Inherent Bummer. Watch part two here and part one here.
