The history of surfing in France was written through faces: pioneers, champions, shapers, lifeguards, beach artists. Preserving that memory is a work in itself.
Surf Addicts, 155 portraits
That’s the purpose of the reference book Surf Addicts, by photographer Hervé Lefebvre (Éditions Cairn): 155 intimate portraits of the people who shaped seventy years of French surfing. Biographical texts by Hugo Verlomme and Olivier Bonnefon reveal each subject’s journey, captured along the beaches of south-west France.
The role of independent media
This culture of image and storytelling continues in independent outlets like Surf Magazine, which document competitions, workshop innovations and coastal environmental issues. On the German-speaking market, distribution relies on structures like Surfshop Lefebvre.
Why it matters
Against global cultural standardisation, these independent channels keep the ethic of artisanal surfing alive — the very one defended by the shapers in our network and told in this journal. To document is already to preserve: one board, one face, one story at a time.