Surfers' Blood

Surfers' Blood, an update with new texts of the popular hardcover, from award-winning surf photographer and filmmaker Patrick Trefz, is a survey of decades spent photographing the lifestyles and bloodlines of surf culture across the globe.

Surfers' Bloodcaptures all the diverse elements that make surfing so gripping and that helped it maintain its vitality in the popular consciousness for generations. A beautiful collection of oceanscapes, portraits, and action shots, Trefz captures the most intense, glamorous, and frightening aspects of surfing along with moments of beauty, stillness, and serenity. The book juxtaposes world champions and unsung local heroes, monster waves and gentle rollers.

Surfing is all about mankind's intimate connection with the badass energy and beauty of nature. It is a deep bond, and for many surfing is a lifelong devotion and a spiritual outlet-a personal experience far removed from its much-hyped and commercialized public persona. Surfing is deeper than magazines and Hollywood depictions would lead us to believe-much deeper. For most surfers, surfing is in their blood and it connects them to an extended family that is linked through practice, tradition, craft, emulation, apprenticeship, and shared experience. Surfers' Blood reaches out to those hardcore, dyed-in-the-wool surfers through an honest and beautiful portrayal of their sport and its surrounding culture, while at the same time offering outsiders a peek into the intense undiluted world of surf.

Patrick Trefz lives and works in Santa Cruz, California. Trefz is an award-winning art, documentary, and action photographer and filmmaker. He has been recognized for three critically acclaimed feature-length documentaries: Thread, Idiosyncrasies, and Surfers’ Blood. He has directed multiple music videos, commercials, and shorts. Trefz is known nationally and internationally for work in publications including Surfer, Big, Geo, and The New York Times, and he is the author of Santa Cruz: Visions of Surf City, and Thread.