THE PEOPLE

Marcus Hyett loves shaping serious, high-performance bullets for big waves. At 28 with 6 years in the bay, and a love of powerful waves, Marcus is a good guy to turn to when you want quality foam under your feet.

Luca Rossi grew up in small town of 5,000 people at the feet of the mountains of Northern Italy, somewhere between Milan and Venice. The sea, which is pretty much as flat as a lake, is three hours away from there. My parents always took us to the beach during summer holidays and my dad is a die-hard fisherman, so I have always felt somehow connected to the sea since young age.

John Robertson, a.k.a. Robbo, is a born-and-bred shaper from the Surf Coast, and has been surfing the local breaks around Torquay and Jan Juc since he was 8. He first started shaping boards at the age of 14.

At 21 years of age, Jack Del-Rennie’s the youngest shaper featured in this series. Hailing from Wensleydale, Jack’s a purveyor (and creator) of top-notch alternative boards that are built to perform in powerful Surf Coast conditions. Jack’s shaping style is loose, and has minimal boundaries. He creates boards based on the feeling he wants to achieve while riding a wave, and he wants to draw different lines to his peers.

Eiji is a 65-year-old grom who froths equally hard on hand-shaping boards and long-walled point breaks. Born and raised in Japan, Eiji became hooked on surfing when his family moved from Yokohama City to the beachside town of Kamakura in the mid 1960’s. It was there, as a fresh-faced 13 year old, that Eiji received his first surfboard from a close friend.

 

With over 25 years of shaping under his belt (and thousands of boards to prove it) Cory Surfboards is the namesake of Ocean Grove-based Cory Russell. As a grom, Cory and his family moved around a lot, continuously relocating houses, which meant that his first contact with the ocean wasn’t until he was 15 years old.

Reining from the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Tai Jennison is a 20 year old videographer. Our interview with Tai covers famed Ments trips, veggie gardens in isolation, working on a project with Lachie McKinnon and Sebastian Zietz and much more.  Enjoy some of his latest clips here.

Corey Graham is one of the more unique and most respected shapers from the Surf Coast. Constantly pushing the boundaries of surfboard design, Corey’s been dubbed the “Willy Wonka of Torquay” by Swellnet for the vast array of different crafts he produces out of his Baines Crescent factory.

Our next interview is with Ellie Bobbie. Born in Paraguay, but now based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Ellie specialises in both photography and videography mediums. We were lucky enough to ask her a few questions about her travels, what she's currently shooting with and plenty more. Enjoy.

Raised on the East Coast of the US by two photographers, Amanda was taught to see the world through her own unique perspective. But it wasn’t until 2018, when she discovered surfing in Sri Lanka that she became a photographer herself. Inspired by the sea and her fellow surfers, Amanda grabbed a camera and has been shooting ever since. See the full interview here.

 

My name is Ryan Marais from the Gold Coast in Australia. I’m an ocean photographer and recent graduate from the Bachelor of Digital Media at Griffith University. While ocean photography is my main hobby, I love bodyboarding and free diving. My aesthetic in surf and ocean photography is focused on light, colour and geometry.

Seamus Byrne - from the Northern Beaches of Sydney has been a regular contributor to SV. It's been just over a year since his last feature, and since then his style has developed immensely.  Seamus has since finished his final year of school, held his own exhibition, started uni and has been shooting for quite a few brands and companies. He is currently trying heaps of new things including photojournalism, portraits, lifestyle etc.