Peterson had just dominated surfing competition in Australia for three years from 1973 to 1975, but by the ’77 Stubbies his star seemed to be on the wane as a new generation of clean-cut professionals like Peter Townend, Shaun Tomson and Mark Richards strived to make pro surfing respectable. MP was surfing’s counterculture hero, the Dark Knight at odds with this new professionalism. But MP rallied for one last hurrah, dominating the ’77 Stubbies with his fierce competitive hunger and other- worldly skills. In front of a packed headland, he defeated Mark Richards in the final, before retreating into obscurity for many years.

Peter Crawford’s black-and-white photograph brings together the energy of the surfer, the texture of the water and the unmistakable presence of the coastline.

Selected from the Peter Crawford Archive for the Reserve Collection and offered in limited editions. Available as an archival photographic print, in a white, black or Hayseed box frame, or mounted on aluminium with a resin finish. Mat options are available in selected sizes.

Dane Kealoha, Johanna Beach, Easter 1979, alone to pick a bank. Far from the madding crowd, PC captures the fastest, most frenetic, most fearsome pro on the surging I.P.S. Tour in peaceful symphonic wonder. The shot is primarily dated by the team jacket of the age - the exclusive Rip Curl satin disco blazer. Dark Blue or Maroon, not every team surfer got one, just as not every employee got one, but everyone wanted one. Looking back on the state of the industry, the period from '77 -'82 was pretty well open sky front and back despite primitive financial numbers. Strange perhaps, but despite international growth of core surfing outfits Rip Curl, O'Neill and Quiksilver, the jacket was a symbol of communal evolution before the profit crush - not hinged to cost or benefit. This photo shows the effect Peter Crawford had on every pro surfer, no matter the personality. When with PC, subjects mostly entered a fresh albeit finite dimension.

Derek Hynd 2026

Pc n his flextail crozier

Little Avalon a.k.a. LA northern Beaches,
New South Wales
Australia

"I'd say pic was taken 1977..given Chris' logo and the fact the board is a single fin (Tri fins were more 79-80). Board is a classic PC SLAB. 5'6" x 22" wide with a 13" half round tail and PC 14" fin box. Blank would be a Farrelly (Peter only ever surfed Midgets foam) Oh yeah and it’s a flextail. 
Shaped by Chris, glassed by Paul Connors (Horse) Bassett Street Mona Vale 🙏." - Brett Hart.

Peter Crawford and Chris Crozier‘s symmetry at creating phenomenal knee boards and pushing the upmost limits in design during this period is something that is still regarded to this day as revolutionary for slab style waves like dee why point 5’6”21”2 ½ flew step flex tail super low rails Peter Crawford signature fin box n fin Zoom zoom

Printed on aluminium composite panel and finished with a hand-applied resin coating that enhances colour, depth and detail.

Produced in a limited edition and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.

Dorothy x Peter Pan

New Zealand

Peter’s fascination with exploring and travelling would always leave him to explore his creativity through the camera lens here Peter shows the use of fish eye to capture the way you use feeling cruising the countryside of New Zealand.

Printed on aluminium composite panel and finished with a hand-applied resin coating that enhances colour, depth and detail.

Produced in a limited edition and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.

Sunset - Northshore Oahu Hawaii 

Taking the highroad.

Geoff Hackman 

Printed on aluminium composite panel and finished with a hand-applied resin coating that enhances colour, depth and detail.

Produced in a limited edition and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.

Deewhy, NSW Australia - 1976

A Classic Deewhy Tube
One of the first inside the tube water shots. Shot on a Nikonos I .

Printed on aluminium composite panel and finished with a hand-applied resin coating that enhances colour, depth and detail.

Produced in a limited edition and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.

Pete Harris
King of the Point Stubbies
Burleigh Heads Queensland
Australia 1977

Printed on aluminium composite panel and finished with a hand-applied resin coating that enhances colour, depth and detail.

Produced in a limited edition and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.

North Shore Oahu Sunset.

Printed on aluminium composite panel and finished with a hand-applied resin coating that enhances colour, depth and detail.

Produced in a limited edition and supplied with a certificate of authenticity.

1978 Stubbies classic Burleigh heads Australia

Mark Richards featured here being followed by the paparazzi film crew from Japan on his way to a runner up place deep in concentration In one interview, Mark was asked what he thought of the media and he was quoted saying hey ‘they’re just doing their job ‘this shows marks humble side even though he was a fierce competitor.

Note that sitting on the rocks is claw the owner of rip curl

Mark Richards broke away from using he standard single fin set up competitors on his revolutionary twin Fin set up most of all the other competitors were riding single Fin surfboards

Rainbow Bay, Queensland, 1976

Rabbit “Bugs” Bartholomew photographed with locals at Rainbow Bay in 1976.

The Holden, the coast and the people around it give the image its period feel — a slice of Gold Coast surf culture from the middle of the seventies.

Kuta, Bali, Indonesia, 1979

Children playing soccer at sunset in Kuta, photographed by Peter Crawford in 1979.

The image captures a gentle human scene within the travel archive — beach, play and warm evening light in late-seventies Bali.

1970

A seventies petrol station scene from Peter Crawford’s archive.

Part road image, part cultural document, the photograph captures the in-between spaces of travel — the places passed through on the way to waves, towns and stories.

North Shore, Hawaii, 1978

A North Shore tree house image from Peter Crawford’s 1978 archive.

The photograph holds the feeling of place around the surf — the lookout, the coastline and the quiet architecture of a surfing life lived close to the water.

Pipeline, North Shore, Hawaii, 1975

"The Big Show", taken by Peter in the historic winter of 1975 at the Banzai Pipeline on Oahu's North Shore, Hawaii

This photograph captures the scale, tension and theatre of the North Shore when the raw power of the ocean becomes the central subject.

Bells Beach, Victoria, 1977

Steve Jones, Terry Richardson and Keone Downing photographed by Peter Crawford at Bells in 1977.

The image sits inside the gathering energy of late-seventies professional surfing, where international surfers, local conditions and Australian contest culture were all pushing the scene forward.

Australia, 1975

A kookaburra photographed by Peter Crawford in 1975.

Quiet, direct and full of character, the image shows Crawford’s instinct for moments beyond the surf — the small scenes and living details around the wider travelling life.

North Shore, Hawaii, 1976

Mark Richards’ Hawaiian quiver photographed at Jocko’s backyard on the North Shore, at Jock Sutherland’s mother’s home.

The image holds the quiet side of surf history — boards, place and preparation — with Lightning Bolt and MR Surfboards sitting inside the Hawaiian season that shaped so much of the era.

Bells Beach, Victoria, 1979

Mark Richards photographed from the water at Bells Beach in 1979.

The image captures MR in the period that would define his place in competitive surfing — fast, stylish and controlled across one of Australia’s most iconic waves.

1978

Louis Ferreira photographed by Peter Crawford in 1978.

With the location and break still to be confirmed, the photograph remains a strong archival surf image from the late-seventies performance era.

Pipeline, Hawaii, 1978

Rory Russell photographed by Peter Crawford at Pipeline in 1978.

A classic North Shore image from the late seventies, capturing the intensity and poise required at one of surfing’s most powerful breaks.

1975

Buzzy photographed by Peter Crawford in 1975, surfing without a leash.

The image carries the looseness and consequence of the period, when commitment, board control and instinct sat at the centre of the ride.

Off The Wall, Hawaii, 1978

Dane Kealoha at Off The Wall in 1978, photographed by Peter Crawford on the North Shore.

The photograph carries the speed, pressure and compact power of Hawaiian surfing at the end of the seventies.

Off The Wall, Hawaii, 1977

Dane Kealoha surfing Off The Wall in 1977, photographed by Peter Crawford on the North Shore.

Fast, low and committed, the image captures the tension and looseness that made Hawaiian surfing of the late seventies so influential.