Aaron Chang (born August 9, 1956)
[Matt Warshaw]
"Aaron Chang"
. ''Encyclopedia of Surfing''. Retrieved 17 July 2016. is an American photographer specialized in surfing and ocean photography. He spent 25 years as a senior photographer at ''
Surfing Magazine
''Surfing Magazine'', originally titled ''International Surfing Magazine'', was a magazine that was founded in 1964 by Orange County local Dick Graham and surf photographer Leroy Grannis. Later the magazine was acquired by Adrian B. Lopez, a New Yo ...
''; he was an early photographer to practice the act of shooting waves with a wide angle lens from the water.
Chang later focused on fine art photography.
[Hochman, David (6 September 2016)]
"A $12,000 California Coastal Photo Safari With A Surf-World Legend At Four Seasons Residence Aviara"
''Forbes''. Retrieved 6 September 2016. He owns two art galleries that show his work in
Solana Beach
Solana Beach (''Solana'', Spanish for "warm wind") is a coastal city in San Diego County, California. Its population was at 12,941 at the 2020 U.S. Census, up from 12,867 at the 2010 Census.
History
The area was first settled by the San Dieg ...
and
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its natural scenery and ric ...
, California. Chang splits his time between
Carlsbad and
Carmel
Carmel may refer to:
* Carmel (biblical settlement), an ancient Israelite town in Judea
* Mount Carmel, a coastal mountain range in Israel overlooking the Mediterranean Sea
* Carmelites, a Roman Catholic mendicant religious order
Carmel may also ...
, California.
Early life
Chang was born in 1956 in
Tucson, Arizona
, "(at the) base of the black ill
, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town"
, image_map =
, mapsize = 260px
, map_caption = Interactive map ...
,
the eldest of Howard and Marilyn Chang's two children. Aaron's father, a math teacher, introduced him to photography at age 9 when he gave him a
Bellows camera.
The family moved to
Imperial Beach
Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism.
Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to:
Places
United States
* Imperial, California
* Imperial, Missouri
* Imperial, Nebraska
* Imperial, Pennsylvania
* Imperial, Texas ...
, a region of
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
, California when he was 11.
[Erica Andrews (11 September 2013)]
"Surfing and Salvation"
''Caring Magazine''. Retrieved 10 August 2016. In high school, Chang swam competitively, surfed and worked in the lab developing photos at the high school where his father taught.
[Ann Wycoff (28 February 2011)]
"Aaron Chang Illuminated"
''San Diego Magazine''. Retrieved 16 July 2016. He graduated in 1974 and after moved to
Oahu
Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...
.
Career
Surf photography
Chang worked in
Waikiki
Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...
taking pictures of tourists at luaus at the Royal Hawaiian and on boat cruises.
He then moved to the
North Shore, where he worked as a photographer shooting postcards. Three years after, Larry Moore from ''
Surfing Magazine
''Surfing Magazine'', originally titled ''International Surfing Magazine'', was a magazine that was founded in 1964 by Orange County local Dick Graham and surf photographer Leroy Grannis. Later the magazine was acquired by Adrian B. Lopez, a New Yo ...
'' saw Chang's photography
[Dennis McLellan (12 October 2015)]
"Larry 'Flame' Moore, 57; Renowned Surf Photographer 'Defined a Whole Genre'"
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved 18 July 2016. and put Chang on staff at the magazine in 1979.
[Hinman, Wendy (May/June 2016)]
"Seize the Light"
''Carlsbad Magazine''. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
In the 1980s, the photography industry saw new motor drives, improved lenses and higher-quality film stock. Chang applied these techniques to shooting the sport of surfing. He was one of the early photographers to use a camera in the water to capture surfing photography.
Chang's most significant contribution to early surf photography was the use of an
ultra wide angle lens
An ultra wide-angle lens is a lens whose focal length is shorter than that of an average wide-angle lens, providing an even wider view. The term denotes a different range of lenses, relative to the size of the sensor in the camera in question.
...
in the barrel in big waves, something that no one had tried before in the 1980s.
Chang was a senior photographer for 25 years at ''
Surfing Magazine
''Surfing Magazine'', originally titled ''International Surfing Magazine'', was a magazine that was founded in 1964 by Orange County local Dick Graham and surf photographer Leroy Grannis. Later the magazine was acquired by Adrian B. Lopez, a New Yo ...
;''
[Louis Shook (23 May 2016)]
"Appreciating the Gift of Life"
''Carlsbad Lifestyle''. Retrieved 15 July 2016. his photos were selected for 38 magazine covers. His shot of an arcing wave at the
Banzai Pipeline
The Banzai Pipeline, or simply Pipeline or Pipe, is a surf reef break located in Hawaii, off Ehukai Beach Park in Pupukea on O'ahu's North Shore. A reef break is an area in the ocean where waves start to break once they reach the shallows of a r ...
appeared on the cover of ''Surfing Magazine'' in 1985; it was the first significant empty wave shot with no person featured.
Chang has traveled to 50 countries for book projects, films, and travel journalism assignments.
His work has appeared in ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
,'' ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
,'' ''
GQ,'' ''
People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
,'' ''
US Weekly
''Us Weekly'' is a weekly celebrity and entertainment magazine based in New York City. ''Us Weekly'' was founded in 1977 by The New York Times Company, who sold it in 1980. It was acquired by Wenner Media in 1986, and sold to American Media Inc ...
'' and ''
Elle
''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...
.''
[Almond, Elliot (April 2009)]
"Surfing: Mastering Waves from Basic to Intermediate"
The Mountaineers Books
The Mountaineers is an alpine club in the US state of Washington. Founded in 1906, it is organized as an outdoor recreation, education, and conservation 501(c)(3) nonprofit organisation, and is based in Seattle, Washington. The club hosts a wid ...
. pp 174. He has shot a variety of subjects, including poets, surfers, bikini models and Nobel scientists, and elephants in the
Namibia
Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...
n bush.
[Matt Warshaw (16 October 1994)]
"A Greater Power : His talent may be matched only by his ego. But Aaron Chang still bows to the ocean that made him a star among photographers."
''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
Chang was selected as one of the photojournalists for seven "Day in the Life" book projects.
[A Day in the life of America pp. 71, 252, 263](_blank)
by Rick Smolan, David Cohen, Leslie Smolan – 1985
His work has been included in illustrated surfing books, including ''Pure Stoke'' (1982), ''The History of Surfing'' (1983), and ''Surfing: The Ultimate Pleasure'' (1984).
He was named one of the top five sports photographers by ''American Photographer Magazine'' in 1985.
Chang has been featured on a variety TV shows, including networks such as
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
and
Fuel TV
Fox Sports 2 (FS2) is an American sports-oriented pay television channel owned by the Fox Sports Media Group, a unit of Fox Corporation. The channel is based at the Fox Sports division's headquarters on the Fox Studio Lot in the Century Ci ...
. He is a subject in Doug Walker's surf documentary ''Lost and Found'' (2011).
Other projects
Chang has worked on commercial accounts, including
Polaris Industries
Polaris Inc. is an American automotive manufacturer of Polaris RZR, RZR, motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, and neighborhood electric vehicles headquartered in Medina, Minnesota, United States. Polaris was founded in Roseau, Minneso ...
,
Yamaha Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate with a very wide range of products and services. It is one of the constituents of Nikkei 225 and is the world's largest musical instrument manufacturing company. The former motorcycle div ...
,
Levi Strauss & Co.,
Billabong
Billabong ( ) is an Australian term for an oxbow lake, an isolated pond left behind after a river changes course. Billabongs are usually formed when the path of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. As a result ...
, and
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. ( or ) is an American multinational corporation that is engaged in the design, development, manufacturing, and worldwide marketing and sales of footwear, apparel, equipment, accessories, and services. The company is headquartered ne ...
In 1994, Chang launched Aaron Chang Clothing, a beachwear line. The
California Surf Museum also housed an exhibit titled ''Aaron Chang: Water Housings and Cameras and Hobie: Shaping a Culture'' in 2012 showing all of Chang's underwater camera housings used to capture his in-the-water shots.
[Museum Exhibit (31 March 2012 - January 2013)]
"Aaron Chang: Water Housings and Cameras and Hobie: Shaping a Culture"
''California Surf Museum''. Retrieved 6 September 2016.[Scofield, Boyd (14 March 2012)]
"An Evening With Aaron Chang"
''Transworld Business''. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
Fine art photography
In 2009, Chang shifted to work in fine art photography with a focus on arcing waves, the sea and light. Chang's photography has been included in the
San Diego Natural History Museum
The San Diego Natural History Museum is a museum located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It was founded in 1874 as the San Diego Society of Natural History. It is the second oldest scientific institution west of the Mississippi and th ...
at an exhibit called ''On The Trail of Ansel Adams.''
[Museum Exhibit (January - March 2013)]
"On the Trail of Ansel Adams"
''San Diego Natural History Museum''. Retrieved 24 August 2016. This exhibit highlighted black and white, nature-based imagery from multiple photographers that were inspired by the photographer
Ansel Adams
Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoca ...
.
Publications
*''San Diego: Through the lens of Aaron Chang.''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chang, Aaron
American photographers
1956 births
Artists from Tucson, Arizona
Photographers from Arizona
Living people