Drawing from the work of Dr. John "Doc" Ball, Tom Blake, Robert Johnson, Leroy Grannis and Don James, among others, Ocean View documents the development of surfing as both a healthy activity and a new found entertainment. Surfing's photographers were also its practitioners; over time they saw their work feed into the iconography of surf culture as it became known more widely through the motion picture and advertising industries.

Doc Ball Mary Ann Hawkins, 1936-47 gelatin silver print Courtesy of the Photographer 8"x10" Tom Blake Doc Ball at Palos Verdes Cove, 1936-47 gelatin silver print Courtesy of Leroy Grannis 8"x10"

Doc Ball's portrait of Mary Ann Hawkins, 1936 posed upon a grounded surf board amidst the rising surf and Tom Blake's view of Doc Ball at Palos Verdes Cove, 1947 riding a wave provide sharply contrasting views of masculinity and femininity. Doc Ball seems to float above the surf of the wave; the outlines of the muscles of his arms, legs and torso testify to the physical effort of surfing. Mary Ann Hawkins, by contrast, is seen in repose lying on her abdomen one leg bent up at the knee. She faces the camera; Doc Ball concentrates upon the wave. The two photographs seem to confirm twentieth century visual coding of masculinity as active and femininity as passive even though the photographers of surfing point out that were always also women who surfed. Unfortunately, cultural notions of femininity carry a powerful charge; historical evidence is easily lost. Surfing's depiction within popular culture has remained masculine in its overall presentation.

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