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Some of the local young guys checking the back of the point. The next shot gives you the water perspective. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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The view of the point from the water. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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This is flawless big Pipe without a soul out. I shot this between semi finals of the Pipe Masters in the late 90s. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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A lot of my shots involve that time between actually getting out of the car and getting into the water. We all know it pretty well - it's called The Surf Check. This is nice little clean swell hitting my local beachie. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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Shot from the jetty at Hanalei. A father and son paddle down the beach. I'm just getting to this stage of my life myself and feel like life as a surfer just becomes fuller. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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An old shot here of a couple of friends as we made our way down the coast. Classic car, great spirit in the air, classic times. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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This is Ben, one of my best mates, and his dog Lucy. We'd just come in from a classic little 'point sesh'. This was in the days not too far back where we will still kid free and able to relish a bit more in post surf chill out. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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An early shot of a stand up and a lid rider jumping off the back of a rock shelf that gets pretty insane on its day. I've since come to know the dog well and have spent plenty of time hanging with Jembo and his owner. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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Emu prints on the beach. This is pure wilderness country in West Oz. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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This is heading over to Turtles with some really good mates. It's one of those completely liberated times of our lives as surfers where even walking kilometres over sand dunes with nothing but boards under our arms and a bit of water felt like a completely normal experience. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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This is my son Malaiah with my friend and shaper, Mick Mackie. I've joked as to how similar they are. They certainly share a cheeky perspective of the world. They get on like old friends. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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Jump Rock, Waimea Bay. I love that spot. Huge Waimea to little shorebreak days to days like this, they're all fun, and sometimes these pancake days were the most fun by far! Photo: Dean Dampney.
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Off-the-Wall, no one out with howling off-shores. For me this is one of the best experiences as a water photographer. Alone in the elements freaking on the rawness and the blistering light. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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This one is a controversial image in the documentary world. It's taken less than a half kilometre from home. The kid in the boat is probably around 12, and I just love that sense of being alone on the water. Photo: Dean Dampney.
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If you've been to Sunset Beach you will have seen this scene. The tourists jump off the buses, get their pix, and jump back in. I've watched it time and time again - I love it. Here a surfer in the background looks a little deeper into the world before him. Photo: Dean Dampney.
I turn 40 in a couple of weeks, and I’m fizzing at how freakin’ good it is to be a surfer. I live in such a wave rich area. We’ve got a ton of reefs, and basically every nook and cranny lights up depending on the conditions. I guess I’m particularly stoked right now because we’ve just had the best autumn in well over 10 years, and it looks like winter is going to be even better.
Dean Dampney, reflecting on "how good it is to be a surfer."
I grew up in a suburb on Sydney’s northern beaches and went to Uni, where I earned a couple of degrees. I’ve been in the water and surfing my whole life. My time as a student was wasted for the most part, but I had plenty of adventures – as you do being a surfer with plenty of time. That’s when we really started hitting the south coast a lot. The adventures continued with world travel and all the rest of it. Somehow, there are 10 years of getting over to Hawaii in the midst of it. I haven’t been since we started to have kids six years ago, but that time will come again in the not-too-distant future. I love and I hate Hawaii. It’s been my biggest teacher. I love that even over a just matter of weeks, you’re almost guaranteed some ten-foot plus days.
As a photographer, my roots lie in street photography. My personal work has focused more on a documentary approach with a love of environmental portraiture. I’m not creating projects, I’m just simply telling my own story. It’s pretty simple these days. I live in a beautiful place with incredible waves and few people. The generations down here are being spliced and shared between the groms, the elders, and the guys like myself, who are neither here nor there. What unites us, for the most part, is this great sense of how lucky we are.
Learn more about Dean, and check out more of his work at Submerge.com.au.
