FACES OF THE WAVES
FACES OF THE WAVES
FACES OF THE WAVES
Photographer GAYLE MACALLISTER
During COVID & the Summer Olympics (Japan/2021), Gayle & her daughter, Mia, roadtripped from Austin, Texas to her hometown of Huntington Beach, CA. They were on a mission to spend quality time with Gayle’s aging father, Don MacAllister former Mayor of HB & Founder of the Surfing Walk of Fame (along with 1st World Champion Pro Surfer Peter Townend).
In the wee hours of the mornings Gayle photographed surfers to celebrate the Sport of Surfing and its’ inaugural debut in the Olympics. She set up a backdrop in the parking lots along HB’s coastline and asked surfers to join her project.
When Gayle returned to her Dad’s after each shoot, he helped her look over the day’s captures. (Gayle had first fallen in love with photography when her father handed her his Nikon camera when she was a young girl).
Over 150 portraits were created of both local and international surfers. In 2024, Gayle’s portraits were installed in an outdoor floating exhibit at Pacific City (across the street from the HB Pier). A tribute to this iconic community. The exhibit also supports the dreams of HB potentially becoming the LA28 Surf Village.
Gayle returns to HB each summer to photograph surfers of all ages, both pro and amateur. She includes a mini bio of each surfer alongside their portrait in Instagram posts @facesofthewaves. A stunning coffee table book is on the horizon.
“I must say it truly is a wonderful project and I love everything it emulates and says about our community. We need community love more then anything right now with the world in its current state!
We need that blanket of sadness removed a little, giving us the ability to see the sunshine again, and I think you are doing much more then simply snapping a few beautiful pictures for all the lovely souls but really touching our hearts and reminding us of the good we do have.
Hope to see you soon around the pier!!
Thanks for the bliss you bring !”
- KAYLA M. l HB SURFER
