Legendary Photographer Who Captured 1980s Surfing Dies Aged 77

Nov 16, 2023

A photographer who spent the last 60 years shooting surf photos and became a legendary name in the sport has passed away aged 77.

Mike Moir started shooting surf photos during the longboard era of the late 1950s and early 1960s in the Southern California area.

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A post shared by Mike Moir (@mikemoirsurf)

Moir became a staff photographer for Surfer Magazine and documented the sport as it evolved into what is known as “Echo Beach.” Echo Beach was a physical location in Newport but it also stood for a cultural expression as surfers from that locale began wearing loud, neon-colored wetsuits in the 1980s.

Moir would go on to release an epoch-defining book entitled The Eighties at Echo Beach with a surfer traversing some rocks while holding a polka dot surfboard on the front cover.

“It wouldn’t be a stretch to say without Mike Moir, none of that may have even happened,” writes Beach Grit, a surfing publication.

Analog

Moir made his name in a time when getting a decent surf photo was not easy; digital cameras are a marked improvement from when shooters were in the water manually focusing on analog cameras confined to 24 or 36 exposure rolls.

But Moir made a name for himself as a class operator with surf legend Kelly Slater paying tribute to Moir’s ability behind the lens.

“As young kids growing up, reading every magazine, Mike became a legendary name in our minds with the likes of Art Brewer, Flame, Peter Brouillet, Tome Servais, Aaron Chang, Dan Merkel, Don King, Third Eye Thoughts, Tom Dugan, Meza Pixels, and many other photographic legends that spring to mind from our early years in the magazines,” Slater wrote on his Instagram Story yesterday.

“Condolences to Mike’s friends and family and a shout-out to all the photogs that spring to mind capturing this amazing lifestyle all these years.”