Name Bill Andrews | Role Surfer | |
Bill Andrews (born 1944) is a surfer, documentary photographer, and archivist. During his daily reportage of modern surf culture, Andrews has archived over 20,000 surf-related photographs. Many of the photographs can be seen on "A Day with BA", the online chronicle.
Andrews grew up surfing in La Jolla, California. He caught his first wave in 1957 at La Jolla Shores Beach. By the early sixties, he had joined the line-up at Windansea Beach, and with other local surfers, he helped establish Black's Beach as a world class break. The Surfer's Journal has called Andrews the “first Black’s local”, a considerable accomplishment given the difficult trail or long paddle to access Black's Beach. In 1965 Andrews’ reputation landed him on the cover of Surfer magazine. The cover photograph shows Andrews on a wave at Black's.
With time, Andrews' long-lived and vocal presence, in and out of the water, has made him something of a surf sage. For this reason, he has been cited in numerous articles and videos on surf history including "Welcome to Windansea" by Chris Ahrens, "The Strange Disappearance of Ron Stoner" by Matt Warshaw, PHOTO/STONER by Matt Warshaw, and Ty Ponder's "Sea Level Pressure." Andrews has also appeared in "Magnificent Obsessions" on Voom Network, "Southern California Son" by James Weaver, and "Core La Jolla Shores" by Fred Stoughton.