Tom Blake images being transformed into dramatic pieces of art

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 11 January, 2007 : - - Iconic images from the pioneer of surf photography Tom Blake are being transformed into dramatic pieces of art and sold to raise funds for the British Surfing Museum.

Some of Blake’s best-known images from the 1920s and ‘30s are now available on canvas or framed prints in a range of sizes and styles.  The deal has been licensed through the international publishing house King and Mcgaw. “Blake was probably the most influential surfer of the last century." Says director of the British Surfing Museum Pete Robinson.

He was the first surfer to dramatically reduce the weights of boards by making them hollow, was the man who thought of putting a fin on a surfboard, and invented what we now know as windsurfing. He was a waterman par excellence, a man who dedicated his life to the sea and the Aloha spirit, and created the lifestyle surfers aspire to today. He was also the man who invented waterproof housings for cameras, and became a pioneer of surfing photography.

Brighton-based Robinson - a man whose passion for surfing and history is as palpable as a six-foot swell - is understandably stoked to have acquired the rights to sell a range of prints of Blake's shots. As he says: "The images reflect the golden era of surfing, a time when the beauty and magic of surfing was ushered into world consciousness."

Art on canvas courtesy British Surfing Museum

The prints are indeed superb, and would grace any surfer's home – and all frames are made from managed wood sources. They are available through the museum’s online shop, which also features a comprehensive range of surf and skate history books (www.thesurfingmuseum.co.uk).

The British Surfing Museum is still looking for a permanent home for its massive collection, but has a successful touring surf history exhibition that is hitting the road again in 2008.  In the past three years more than 100,000 people at venues as diverse as Aberdeen, London and Cornwall have seen it.

www.thesurfingmuseum.co.uk