Issue 46 ‘The Life Aquamarine with Andrew Shield’

Following on from our best-selling ‘Ted Grambeau’ edition a few issues back, Issue 46 showcases the pure surf photography of Andrew Shield. Shieldsy is one of those figures in the Australian surfing landscape who’s gone about his work in such a relaxed, unassuming manner that, over the last three decades, his skills, talent and contribution has been – if not overlooked – then perhaps taken for granted.

And one of the reasons he’s overlooked is because, first and foremost, he’s purely a surf photographer: there are no pretentious side projects with antique emulsion cameras, no quasi-hipster philosophising or brooding angst in his Instagram posts, none of that. Instead, there’s just the world of surf and surfing. Of waves and lineups and locations and what goes on in and around the surf zone. Pure as it gets.

Similarly, issue 46 of White Horses is pure as it gets. Divided into two halves, this edition starts with his unmatched capture of home waters, starting with the Gold Coast and fanning out to all surf coasts on the Australian continent and islands. The second half is devoted to Shieldsy’s extraordinary overseas travels.

This is an unmatched document, not only of one of the all-time greats of the game, but also of the Australian surf and travel culture.