In her visually stunning new book Women Making Waves: Trailblazing Surfers In and Out of the Water (June 28, Ten Speed Press), L.A.-based author Lara Einzig profiles 29 female surfers from around the world who are redefining the sport once dominated by white, Western men.
Venice Beach resident Megan Crawford (far left) is one of the female surfers profiled. PHOTO BY ANNE MENKE
After a 12-year career in the London fashion world, Australia native Lara Einzig and her family had just relocated to Los Angeles when she lost her younger sister to mental illness. “I knew instinctively that the ocean would heal me, so I decided to take surf lessons,” says Einzig, who immediately took to the transformative sport. “It’s challenging, calming, healing and humbling. It magnifies and microscopically sharpens your focus. It reveals a strength from within that otherwise might remain hidden. And it offers a space for meditation and perspective.”
Doing a deep dive into surf culture, Einzig didn’t see any of the empowering women she’d met represented in books, films or magazines. “I wanted to show the strength of female surfers and feature women who are living a life of purpose, who are driven by social impact and have inspiring life stories,” she says. Women Making Waves spotlights a diversity of trailblazing women, from 17-year-old native Hawaiian Kelis Malia Lei Kaleopa’a, the world’s fourth-best longboarding champion, to British Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright, a Santa Monica-based climate change activist who surfed to reconnect with herself. “These women have the potential to make surfing more than just a sport,” Einzig says. “It’s a way to change the world.”
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