Editor’s note: We recently ran a story on the best new surf books. One that made the list was “City Surf”, a collaboration between writer Leo Maxam and photographer Nathan Lawrence that showcased the City Surf Project, a group of San Francisco surfers connecting underrepresented youth to the ocean and themselves through surfing. To get a better idea of how the book came about, we asked Maxam and Lawrence to provide some backstory. Maxam explains below:
In the ten-plus years I’ve known photographer Nathan Lawrence, I’ve learned to trust his calls. More often than not, they’re on the money.
When Nate rings me asking if I want to leave on a surf trip in less than 24 hours to some wave I’ve never heard of, I don’t even bother asking questions anymore. I already know the waves will be a real-life version of Surfline’s “Good-Epic” series, no Photoshop required. I just pack my bags and start thinking of excuses to give for my unscheduled absence.
CITY SURF tells the story of City Surf Project, a group of San Francisco surfers connecting underrepresented youth to the ocean and themselves through surfing. Featuring powerful stories from CSP’s students and a plurality of characters from the city’s fringe saltwater society – surfers who come from all walks of life – this book documents San Francisco’s unique urban surf culture and its impact on the city’s youth.
Whether he’s screaming at me from behind his water housing to go on a wave that could kill me, egging me on stage at Jakarta’s largest nightclub to sing a duet of “Hotel California,” or proposing we start our own surf magazine, Nate has a way of getting me to say “yes.”
And I generally never regret it.
“I started shaping so I’d always have a full quiver to ride,” says veteran local board builder Tim Gras. “In San Francisco, if you’re gonna surf year round, you need a full quiver – everything from a summertime fish to a Mav’s gun – because there’s every kind of condition here.” Photo: Nate Lawrence
But in spite of his sterling track record, when Nate asked me to help him write a book about City Surf Project, a Bay Area nonprofit that connects underserved youth with surfing and the ocean, I was skeptical. What was the book about – a local nonprofit? Surfing in San Francisco? Life in the city? I didn’t see a coherent theme. As usual, for every dubious question I served up, Nate had an answer:
It’s about all those things, man. Let’s just start talking to people and the story will take shape as we go.
Matt Lopez is a staple of San Francisco surfing. When he’s not at the beach snagging the wave of the day, he’s a block up Taraval at his bar, White Cap. Photo: Nate Lawrence
But I’d never written a whole book before.
And I’ve never shot an entire book of photos! It’ll be a first for both of us. We’ll figure it out together. And I already asked William Finnegan and he said no.
What you might not realize when you first look at this picture-perfect line taken by Bianca Valenti is all the hard work she probably put in just to get to this moment: a 45-minute paddle out through a minefield of whitewater, piercing ice-cream headaches, lung-burning hold-downs, stinging offshore winds blowing up the face, and phantom peaks that always seem to shift just out of reach. No wonder Bianca uses The Beach as her training facility for the big days she paddles at Mavericks and Jaws. Photo: Nate Lawrence
Fair enough. But there was still the fact that I lacked a strong connection to the surfing community in San Francisco.
But you’re from San Francisco! You grew up surfing here.
For four years at Lowell High School I showed up to my morning class with saltwater dripping from my nose onto my textbook. But I never identified as a surfer, and I never really hung around other surfers. Even in my native SF, I was never one of the boys at Kelly’s Cove.
From far away, the entry looks straightforward, but don’t be fooled: This is a big wave and the offshore wind blowing up the face could blow you right off the back of this thing. Photo: Nate Lawrence
I always felt more at home on the city’s basketball courts, where it never mattered who you knew or what street you grew up on – if you could play, you could play. As far as writing a book about San Francisco surfing, I felt like an outsider, unqualified to speak on the subject.
But isn’t that what City Surf Project is all about, making surfing accessible to outsiders? Changing people’s idea of what a surfer looks like? Isn’t that why you started volunteering with CSP in the first place?
Zay and Miguel became friends through the CSP surf club at Leadership High School in San Francisco. Both love surfing, but neither of them has a car, so they get to the beach any way they can. Zay lives in the Fillmore and Miguel is next door in Japantown, so they catch the 38 Muni bus with their boards and wetsuits all the way down Geary Blvd to Ocean Beach. They pack a brown bag lunch and surf all day, then take the bus home dripping with saltwater. Photo: Nate Lawrence
Once again, I found myself saying “yes” to Nate. I swallowed any lingering doubts and dove in to see where the current would take us. And it took us to people and places in my hometown I had no idea existed.
Is there really no one out? A secret spot serves up a San Francisco treat with no takers. Photo: Nate Lawrence
To a rare interview with Bob Wise, months before he permanently closed his iconic surf shop after 51 years of business in SF. To the most extensive trove of surfing literature and media I’ve ever seen, impeccably archived in Doc Renneker’s basement.
It’s no mistake that Burning Man was first held at Ocean Beach,” says 40-year Sunset District resident and local big-wave pioneer Mark “Doc” Renneker. “It’s been a place that’s on the fringe. And I love the fact that the beach itself, the surf, is so extreme that it’s its own form of wilderness. It’s like having Yosemite at your doorstep.” Photo: Nate Lawrence
To the first North Beach hill Elissa Steamer ever bombed on her skateboard, inspiring her to move to SF and start surfing Ocean Beach. Through this book we met a cast of surfing characters and misfits who all found their niche in San Francisco.
Elissa Steamer broke down barriers and planted a flag for women’s skateboarding in the 90’s. Now, she’s starting to turn heads surfing down at the beach. Photo: Nate Lawrence
Read More: How Surfing Can Help — A List of Helpful Organizations
City Surf is a collection of faces and voices that represent the diverse urban surf culture we continue to build here – one that is uniquely San Francisco. It’s a movement within surfing I’m grateful to be a part of and I’m excited to watch grow. And, as usual, I have Nate to thank for helping me see it.
When the sun goes down after a day of pumping waves, and the city’s lights begin to shine into the evening, the notion hits you that you might just be living in the greatest surfing city in the world. And, for that one day at least, you might just be right. Photo: Nate Lawrence
For more information on City Surf, head over to their website. To grab a copy of the book, head over here.
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