Surfers' Blood

Surfers' Blood, the latest monograph 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' Blood captures 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 was born in the industrial city of Dusseldorf, Germany and currently lives and works in Santa Cruz, California. Patrick is an award winning art, documentary, and action photographer and filmmaker. He has worked internationally with publications including Surfer, Big, Geo, and The New York Times, and is the author of Santa Cruz: Visions of Surf City (SolidPublishing, 2002) and Thread (powerHouse, 2009). He has also directed multiple music videos and shorts, as well as two feature-length documentary films, Thread (2007) and Idiosyncrasies (2010).

Margaret Cohen hails from New York City. She teaches in the Department of Comparative Literature at Stanford University and holds the Andrew B. Hammond Chair of French Language, Literature and Civilization. She is the author of multiple books, including Profane Illumination (University of California Press, 1995) and most recently, The Novel and the Sea (Princeton University Press, 2010). When she is not teaching or writing, she spends her time in and around Monterey Bay.

Joel Patterson grew up surfing and skateboarding in Newport Beach, California. In 1994, he was hired as an assistant editor at Transworld Skateboarding magazine where he worked for over six years, ultimately becoming its editor. In 2000, he became editor in chief at Transworld Surf, and spent the next seven years there. In 2008, he jumped ship and took the helm at Surfer magazine. Patterson now lives in Los Angeles and works as both Surfer's editor-at-large and as a freelance writer when he's not obsessing with Malibu's First Point.

Rusty Long's home break is Trestles in San Clemente, California. For the past 10 years, his passions for adventure and "elevated sensation" have led him all over the world—often to the outer fringes. He searches out extraordinarily large waves of power and beauty, and rides them with a close-knit, international group of friends who are widely considered this style of surfing's elite. He recognizes the good fortune he's been afforded through this life as a professional surfer and uses his camera and words to share his unique visions and thoughts. Much of Rusty's work has been published in major surf media outlets. He enjoys life in the moment and appreciates the wonderful connections he makes with people and nature every day.