How (Not) To Be a Surf Photographer With John Hook

Images courtesy of John Hook

I texted John to set up a good time for an interview to talk about being a surf photographer.

He suggested 1:30. I agreed. Later, he came back with either noon or 2:30, because 1:30 was no good anymore. I said sure, 2:30 is fine. I texted our mutual friend, Chris, to see if he wanted to meet at 1:30 to give me some question suggestions. Chris told me he couldn’t because he was going surfing with John at 1:30. That’s how dedicated John is. He rescheduled an interview about surfing so that he could go surfing.

John Hook is many things: a surfer, an Analog Sunshine Recorder, a foiler, a kook, but today we are talking to him about his tenure as a surf photographer, which has led him to photo exhibitions, at least one free T-shirt, and a Surfer’s Journal cover.

John’s photography is unique in its perspective, but also impressive in that it exists at all. His images are not staged, not planned, not coerced, and couldn’t possibly be duplicated. Like many photographers would like to claim, Hook specializes in the capturing of moments, but it is his incorporation of chemicals, light, coincidence, humor, and the crushing enormity of the circumstance, that makes his imagery truly compelling. He is unafraid to get in the water, get on the wave, or get in trouble. Hook’s photography has an emerald-colored lightness to it that we just can’t seem to get over, so we flew to Honolulu and met him (at 2:30) for a nice, way off-topic chat (with a word of wisdom from the aforementioned mutual friend and Honolulu photography staple, Chris Rohrer) over some beers and cider.

How long have you been a surf photographer?

I really don’t like calling myself a surf photographer.

And we are immediately off-topic. But you take surfing photos, right?

Yeah, but I take pictures of lots of stuff. I don’t really tell people I’m a surf photographer.

Give yourself some credit. You’re a good photographer and are especially good at taking photos of surfing. And not like cheesy, fisheye, overly dramatic, printed-on-metal surf photos either. There’s something casual and silly and fun about yours. Do you know what I mean?

No, not really… I don’t know. I just have a really hard time with that title. If someone asks me what I do, I have a really hard time saying I’m a surf photographer. It just seems so weird. I don’t even like to tell people I’m a photographer – I cringe at it.

I mean, I don’t surf. Is there some stigma?

I think so. If someone told me they were a surf photographer, I’d be like ‘hmm, lame.’ Or I’d think they were one of those guys who sets up on the shore or someone who is trying to take the craziest photo of the biggest waves or wants to be Clark Little. I mean, if that’s what you want to do then that’s cool for you, but I don’t want to be grouped into that kind of stuff because I’m not really into that. I love surfing and I love photography, and I do like a lot of the surf pictures that I take, but I have a hard time categorizing myself as a surf photographer.

What is it that you’re trying to avoid?

Maybe I’m just in my head about what a professional photographer is. It feels cringey to say I’m a photographer. The title has become a cringey popular thing that everyone says they are, and I don’t want to be that. You know what I think? If I’m being honest, I think that sometimes I’m worried that people are gonna think of that phrase, ‘Those who can’t do, teach.’ They’ll look at me and be like, ‘This guy can’t surf so he’s just trying to be someone in the scene.’

I know the sort of cringey ‘photographer’ you’re talking about but I also think you are very unnecessarily in your head about it.

In my mind, the stigma for me is that photography has become this popular cool thing that people get into, but not because they really want it or like it. If I say I’m a photographer then people will be like, ‘Oh, yeah, you’re a content creator,’ and that is the biggest pet peeve right there. The terminology is weird now. It used to be about assets and pictures and making cool things, but now everything is just content. People hear ‘photographer’ and think ‘content creator’ and I don’t want to be a content creator.

Despite the connotations, you’re a picture taker. Do you enjoy taking pictures?

Oh, man, I love taking pictures. It’s all I ever want to do all the time is snap photos. That, to me, is better than actually looking at them. For me, seeing a really good photo is not as fun as taking the photo.

You’re a surf photographer whether you like it or not. How can one be a surf photographer and not be a kook? Or actively avoid perpetuating a stigmatized stereotype of ‘surf photographer’?

One thing that makes me feel weird is when people are trying to impress people with their photography. I think the people who are constantly trying to be impressive and just put out shitty cheesy stuff, I’m getting looped in with that and I hate it.

Dude, everyone has to start somewhere and everyone’s excited!

Totally! And they should be! Everyone goes through the phase where they try a whole bunch of things: models, medium format, everything because they’re so curious and excited. For the ten years or whatever when I was starting out and trying all this different stuff, I took some really bad photos. Really bad. We didn’t have social media back then though so nobody ever saw it, I was taking those photos just for myself to learn and experiment and find what I liked. Everyone should do that. But I don’t like when someone is trying all of those things because they think that now 120 film is popular and they want to be popular so they’ll try that too. Or now bikinis are popular so they’ll take photos of bikinis, and then they put all of these really bad photos out. I think that a good photographer should avoid that sort of thinking. Like, if you want to be a good photographer, take photos with the idea that no one is going to see these pictures, because it’ll force you to develop your own style and take pictures of what you want and how you want. Maybe that’s what the stigma comes from that really makes me not want to be grouped in with ‘photographers’, those people who are putting out bad, popular photos that they think everyone else wants to see.

Your shit phase has paid off, I think. Your surf photos are beautiful but weird and are very not serious. Sometimes even silly or haphazard. Does that just come from you being a moron?

Kind of, yeah. I think it just comes from growing up listening to dumb skater punk music and really not caring about much. There was never anything that I had to take too seriously, which might not have been all good in life, but it made things sillier – made it easy to be sillier. In my mind, I’m not taking photography too seriously. Is that what you mean?

Yeah, your photos aren’t the sickest, craziest photos but they are the funnest. Weird considering how in your head you are about titles and terminology.

I am in my head about that stuff, but not about actually taking photos. I love taking pictures. I think I just got to the point where I wanted it to be fun and not get too crazy about it. I’d rather they be fun than super impressive or nuts.

Chris, you have the same sense of humor in your photography.

Chris: Humor… It’s not always funny, it’s more casual.

John: Is it just cause it’s more fun to not take it seriously?

Chris: Hmm… Yeah, taking super-serious photos is like wearing a suit. It looks good but it’s uncomfortable and boring a lot of the time.

John, if not a suit, what do you think you’re wearing out there? Nothing?

Speedos? No. Definitely short shorts. In my mind, when I’m out there, I imagine that I’m in a nice pair of daisy dukes. Freeing the legs. Non-constrictive wetsuit.

What would you say is the most important thing for a beginner surf photographer to have?

Honestly, wave knowledge. Ocean knowledge. That is the most important. Just for safety, man, you don’t want to drown. I wanna say to just get in the water—but do not do that if you have no wave knowledge. There are some photographers who aren’t surfers who give it a go and they have a really hard time because they might be good swimmers but they don’t know what the waves are doing. Wave and ocean knowledge is the best thing you can have.

What would you say to a young photographer to not be a kook?

Only do it because you love it. Do not try to be popular. Only do it because you love it. I know people who don’t love it but want to show off and be popular who are trying to take the nuttsiest photo of the biggest wave or whatever, and I know they’re not doing it for themselves, they’re doing it for everyone else. Do it for you.

John