Due North

By Diane Seo | Photos by Brown W. Cannon III

Brown W. Cannon III considers North to be his North Star body of work—his most purposeful endeavor in 25 years as a professional photographer. A surfer himself, he set out to capture the spirit of O‘ahu’s North Shore culture through striking black-and-white portraits of surfers, both famous and not. He then widened his lens to include bodysurfers, bodyboarders, lifeguards and others, along with action and scenic shots from communities along O‘ahu’s Seven-Mile Miracle. “It became more and more clear how meaningful this project was becoming for me the further I got into it,” says Cannon of his six-year passion project.

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    John Galera, 2018. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Mark Healey, 2018. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Moana Jones Wong, 2022. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Clark Little, 2023. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Kai Garcia, 2023. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Carissa Moore, 2023. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Crystal Thornburg-Homcy, 2022. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Clyde Aikau, Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational opening ceremony, Waimea Bay, 2019. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Mark Healey with Mehana and Kohl Christensen, Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational opening ceremony, Waimea Bay, 2019. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

  • North by Brown W. Cannon III

    Roger Erickson, 2021. Photo: Brown W. Cannon III

What is it about the North Shore that keeps people coming back over and over? His answer: “It’s a connection to the water.”

 

 

A veteran travel photographer who shoots for the likes of National Geographic and Travel & Leisure, Cannon began North with a question: What is it about the North Shore that keeps people coming back over and over? His answer: “It’s a connection to the water.”

 

Flipping through this 200-plus page book, it’s clear North is a visually arresting achievement. It recently was named an “Official Selection” and received an honorable mention award in the category of Professional: Book, Fine Art at the 2023 International Photography Awards, one of the world’s most prestigious photography competitions. North’s first print run in 2023 sold out, and a second edition went on sale in January. Photos from the collection will be exhibited at Velocity Honolulu on Kapi‘olani Boulevard starting Feb. 9.

 

What’s far more significant to Cannon, however, is the reaction of the people he featured in the book, which along with photographs includes a selection of  “as told to” stories. He unveiled North and handed out copies at a launch event at Turtle Bay Resort in early December.

 

“Two-thirds of the surfers in the book showed up, and they didn’t know what they were going to end up seeing,” Cannon says. “Many of them later reached out to say, ‘Thank you,’ and in some cases, ‘Thank you for reminding me of the importance of this community.’ This is the first project I’ve done that was really born out of passion. And to feel like the community has accepted it has made it, without question, the highlight of my career.”

 

In many ways, North was a lifetime in the making. Although Cannon resides in Oregon, he’s been coming to the North Shore since he was a kid and has family and many friends on the island. “Yet, even though I’ve been coming here my entire life, it wasn’t until this project that I started to feel like I really got to know the soul of this place in a much more acute way,” he says.

 

North came to life in 2018 after Cannon’s conversation with childhood friend Mike Pietsch, an O‘ahu big-wave surfer. Cannon asked Pietsch if he would help him jump-start the project. Within a few weeks, “Mikey had secured [pro surfer] Kohl Christensen’s barn, which is where we shot most of these portraits,” Cannon says. Pietsch then arranged for the first group of surfers to be photographed.

 

After that round, surfers themselves started to reach out to Cannon. “The next thing you know, I photographed [champion bodyboarder] Mike Stewart and [renowned bodysurfer] Mark Cunningham. Then Mark called Dave Wassel, and the next thing you know, they’re showing up. So, the people in the book all helped me find the next people and subjects for the book.”

 

Cannon says he’s always felt the book was an important way to capture this period of time in Hawai‘i’s storied surfing history. He photographed pioneers of modern surfing and got the stories of surfing champions Jock Sutherland; Roger Erickson; and Peter Cole, who passed away in February 2022 before the book was published. “His portrait and his story are embedded in the pages of this book,” Cannon says of Cole. “And I think that that’s a really meaningful thing for his family and for all of the surfers in the book who knew him.”

 

Ultimately, North is a love letter to the people of the North Shore, for their vital and irrepressible spirit, and for their intrinsic ties to the alluring ocean surrounding them.

 

 

North, published by Damiani, $250, is available from Amazon and other online retailers. cannonphotography.com, @browncannoniii