The other day, me ol' mate, the eagle eyed, Digga Davie, sent through this Trade Me Listing ;
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/sports/surfing/surfboards/shortboards/listing/5303133183
Asking, do you reckon this is La Honce’s old board from that photo you shot? I sent it on to Larry Fisher..aka La Honce… you may know him, he’s 50% part of the A team that are the foundation behind the Raglan Surf Academy. But Larry is so much more than simply a High School teacher.
Lazza, replied straight back, 'Yeah it is, that’s even my old HB board bag in the listing.'
Because of all of that you're reading it was also a feature spread in the book PhotoCPL
The shot… this one above was taken in the summer of 1993, we’d gone up to Northland for the Sandy Bay, Polar Bear Classic, which had been postponed until that December. We were all staying with the boss, the legend Pauline Pullman. The swell pulsed and we boosted down to Ocean Beach.
It was the closing road trip on the first year at the surf mag for Chris Berge and I, and the year had been a baptism by fire. Defo more downs than ups, but we were learning and we were starting to find our groove. And that roady was sort of a pressure off, no deadline pending, end of year cruise before knock off. Local lad Keary Neal was with us too, that’s him duckdiving the wave Laz is on. We stayed at Obezz all day, surfing, shooting, even napping between sessions in the warm December rays. I remember thinking, this is what we signed up for, me and Budge, get free surfing action on the days around an event, document the event, then cruise back to the office with a bag full of exposed film rolls.
I had just started learning the craft of water photography, I can say, hand on heart, this image is a complete and utter fluke. No skill was involved in the making of it in anyway. I showed it to the CEO of Rip Curl NZ, Paul Muir, he loved that it was taken at his own stomping ground Obezz, he ran it as a double page spread in the next issue of NZ Surfing. I was pretty stoked at that. When the mag came out things went rad, both Lazza and I were getting pats on the back from everyone, like ‘sick turn’, ‘How Kiwi is that background!’ ‘That’s a real NZ shot, couldn’t be shot anywhere else.’ It was like an …. hmmmm if I can replicate that fluke more often, then I’m onto to something.
Larry’s mum Rose rang me to ask if she could get a print of the photo. This meant everything to me, that Rose wanted the shot, that was a real wow moment.
At the time Larry, was a poster boy for the NZ Surfing scene, the clean living blonde grom from Piha was a sponsor’s dream. Hooked up by Hot Buttered and Rip Curl, already represented NZ at international competition and tipped to be a National Champ, in fact I believe 3 weeks after this Obezz session, Laz came second to Jason Matthews in the Open Nationals Final. He was one of the few surfers that received regular fan mail at the surf mag, we delighted in publishing every single one.
We played on that at the magazine for a few years, we travelled a lot together. Indo, the far north, the deep, deep south- always a good time. I even bounced at one of Larry’s fundraisers …. that’s a story for another time.
What? Clean living Laz at Show Girls???? Well yes and no, this was part of a poorly executed story for NZ Surf Mag. The idea was that fellow Piha surfers Nat Barron and Nick NguChung had convinced Larry to go to the strippers, and then the strippers wouldn't let Laz go... it was hilarious shooting it.
Laz earlier this year, representing Raglan's Point Boardriders at the Boardriders Cup
Later Digga and I conferred, some collector could buy that board, and had it displayed with the book open on that spread, it would look pretty cool. If it was California, that would probably happen. Oh well.
OH YESSSS! The new PhotoCPL T's are hitting the mark with the punters. Sales are OK, you guys could do better, I expect more from you- jokes...not jokes. BUT the comments back about the quality and fit are what we are loving. You missed that memo? Ok the link is HERE