Australia's First Surfing Photo - Click to enlarge
Oseric Notley, a former Maclean professional photographer has been possibly credited with taking a photo of the first person to surf in Australia. The photo of the man, Tommy Walker, was taken at Yamba’s Main Beach in 1912.
Tommy Walker was a member of the Manly Seagulls Surf club and Yamba’s Life Saving Brigade when the photo was taken according to historian Ray Moran. Mr Moran is a life member of the Manly Surf Life Saving Club.
Mr Moran has said that he has menerous opportunities to look over hundreds of old photos and can not find one that pre-dates the one of Tommy Walker ripping up Main Beach. Ther are photos that show people with surfboards, but none of them show people actually in action in the water.
Yamba Festival of Comedy, Music and Arts chair person Debrah Novak has found two photos during her research at The Port of Yamba Historical Society that appeared to have been taken in 1910 or 1911, however the location of the shots was not identified.
These recent discoveries by Debrah Novak could make Yamba the birthplace of Australian surf photography and if the claim can be made will allow them to plan and celebrate 100 years of surfing photography and hold a Tommy Walker Long Board Classic for next years festival.
If you have a fetish for surf photography you will be interested to know the Soul Surfing exhibition will be held next month, 19th to the 22nd of August 2010, and will opened by a relative of the man in the photo (Tommy Walker).
