BuT wOm3N dOn'T taKe gOod phOtoS oF suRfiNg

On Friday last week, I was on a panel about women’s surfing alongside Tyler Wright and Ashika Kanhai (and organised and hosted by Ece (AJ) Kaya and Leila Khanjaninejad from UTS Sydney). We were asked what has changed for better in women’s surfing and I said, surf media.

I said, surf media overall has changed for the better so far as their treatment of women is concerned. 

I pointed out that women are treated much better as surfers, writers, photographers, and editors, as possibly even as models in surf advertising imagery. I talked about the import allyship and mentoring by some men who have been powerful in surf media, and how a growing number of them have been real advocates and mentors to many women, creating space for these women - including me - to build experience to then build up other women in return.

And I meant it!

And then, tonight, I opened Instagram to see the announcement of the 10 finalists for the 2024 Surfing Australia, Surf Photo of the Year Award, supported by Tracks magazine. According to the announcement on Tracks’ website, 

"The Surfing Australia, Surf Photo of the Year, supported by Tracks, acknowledges the creativity, ingenuity and dedication of all Australian Surf Photographers."

Cool. Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool. Okay, so, how come after years of growing the presence of women in surf media, how come of the 10 images not one is by a woman and there is only one image of a woman? [Update: many people have also pointed out to me that while the wave is incredible and Laura Enever is charging, the one photo of a woman is of a woman falling off.]

How come in the finalist list for the award in 2023 there was only one image by a woman, Clementine Bourke, and one image of a woman, Summa Longbottom (not the same image)?

How come this is the case, again, in an award supported by Tracks, a magazine that has benefited so much from women in recent years? This includes being listed as one of the publishers of the excellent work of Kate Allman, Lucy Small and Selina Steele, in their nomination for the 2022 June Andrews Award for Women’s Leadership in Media in Australia’s prestigious Walkley Awards for journalism, for their work on the 'Equal Pay for Equal Play' campaign? Tracks was very quick to promote their role as a publisher (with other outlets) of that work and to republish Kate’s generous recognition that “Tracks is leading the way for creating more diversity in surf media and I’m proud to be part of that change. I hope other publishers will applaud and follow our lead”. Kate and Lucy and Selina are part of that change but Tracks is clearly not pulling their weight as sponsors of this award by insisting more women are included as finalists.

Look, the finalist images are fine. They're a bit boring, but there is no doubt the photographers are talented and the images are beautiful. Yet it's hard to locate them as particularly defining of this year in surfing (Olympics, anyone?) or as offering something innovative in surf photography. I’m not sure who the judging panel is but I’m sure they can do better than this. And it might be the case that they didn’t get as many entries from women or non-binary people, but I know for sure that women submitted.

Given Tracks celebrated their association with Allman, Small and Steele’s Walkley Award nomination, with the headline, 'Tracks recognised in Mid-Year Walkey Award nomination' - not a single mention of Kate Allman in the lead!! - they should be treating the legacy of that success with much more respect and consistency. They should be treating the women who brought them so much high quality content and mainstream media credibility with much more respect as well. 

Why, despite all the evidence of all-women issues selling out and of articles by and about women being nominated for prestigious national awards, why won't surf media promote women consistently. I guess that is a rhetorical question because the answer is easy: they're sexist. 

Tracks supports women (sometimes)

Surf media and surf organisations can’t have it all ways. Editors can’t sometimes support women when it’s of benefit to them and then leave those same women on the cutting room floor when there’s a chance to support the boiz. Surfing Australia shouldn’t be in possession of AUD$1 million for women’s boardriders clubs while not supporting women’s surfing more broadly. 

This is why I’ve never encouraged women write for Tracks or Stab or Beach Grit or The Surfers Journal or The Inertia. Because even if women publish some quality content every so often, or if women are featured by the editorial team, these magazines remain deeply sexist and they won’t hesitate to ridicule or ignore women when it’s convenient to them. 

This is why I didn’t applaud when the WSL gave women equal pay. Because it’s the bottom rung on a ladder that they continue to withhold rungs from.

Support women as part of surfing, or don’t. But for now, can we all make a pact to withhold our money, photographs, writing, images, and support from any surf media producers who are inconsistent in their support of women folk. So many women have given these magazines a chance to show they’ve changed but there’s only so long we can be expected to continue to do that.

Even though I believed it had, and even though some parts of surfing media are definitely improving, I’m so embarrassed I said that surfing media has collectively changed for the better.

Do better Tracks. Do better Surfing Australia. Do a lot better.