Tag: monokini

Teri Melanson
Rocky Point, Hawaii | mid 1970’s
ph. Bernie Baker

Here is a sample of what photographer Bernie Baker had to say about the above pic:

“The lady is Teri Melanson, probably the best local haole girl surfer living out here at the time (today she’s teaching golf pros in LA). She knew everyone, so she got any wave she wanted out there. Being the free spirit that she was, she was surfing Rocky’s late in the day, topless and stylishly. I went down to shoot some late-in-the-day speed blurs and at that moment it was simply being in the right place at the right time. It was shot on Kodachrome 25mm slide film, so all I knew was that out of four waves she rode, I had at least one good frame. When she came in, we talked about doing something more than just getting the best shot to the mag for editorial (for Surfer back then, the winter season was already over and they were looking at the spring stuff coming up, not just another late winter day with a hot chick). Plus, every public library in the US would have cancelled their subscription if that had shown up (what a hell of a cover that would have made!) as a spread. The shot became part of a poster series called Hawaii Naturally. My film partners at Island Style put up the bucks for a few thousand-copy print run. Within a few months, we were out of copies, it had gone around the world to every surf shop and more. Today, I have only one poster to my name and that was a gift from one of my best mates!”