SURF TRIBE

With Surf Tribe, photographer Stephan Vanfleteren shows

that there is far more to surf culture than just sport and

competition. Surfing is also about a deep admiration

and respect for the ocean, as well as the feeling of

insignificance when confronted with the forces of nature.

Surfers use the waves for fun, but also to forget and to

battle, both with others and with themselves.

Vanfleteren looks beyond the traditional borders of the

United States and Australia and searches the globe for

people who live in places where sea and land meet. He

documents a fluid community, which has nature as its

sole leader. He portrays both young talent as well as

living icons and old legends, both competition surfers and

freesurfers.

No action shots on azure blue waves but static and serene

black and white portraits in Vanfleteren’s well-known,

haunting style, which show the real people behind the

surfers, in all their strength and vulnerability. A series of

images that penetrates to the true core of surf culture.

With hundreds of portraits of, amongst others, Kelly Slater,

Gerry Lopez, John John Florence, Mickey Munoz, Filipe

Toledo and Stephanie Gilmore.