A-frame

Aaberg, Denny

Aaberg, Kemp

Abberton, Koby

Abbruzzi, Sid

Abellira, Reno

Abubo, Megan

academia and surfing

Adler, Tom

advertising and surfing

Aeder, Erik

aerial

Aguerre, Fernando

Aichner, Scott

Aikau, Clyde

Aikau, Eddie

Aipa, Ben

air-drop

airbrush

Airshow

Ala Moana

Alabama

alaia board

Alaska

alcohol and surfing

Alexander, Kala

Allen, Chuck

Alms, Paige

aloha shirt

Alter, Hobie

Alvarez, Pepe

Ancell, Kevin

Andaman Islands

Andersen, Lisa

Anderson, Craig

Anderson, Simon

Andino, Kolohe

Angel, Jose

angle

Angola

Angourie

Antarctica

Apocalypse Now

Arabian Sea

Aragon, Janice

Arakawa, Eric

Archbold, Matt

Arena, Eduardo

Ashton, Juan

Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP)

Atlantic Ocean

August, Robert

Aurness, Rolf

Auster, Ken

Australia

Avalon, Frankie

Azores

backdoor

backside

backside attack, Pipeline

backwash

bail out

Bain, Rob

Baja California

Baker, Bernie

Baker, Grant “Twiggy”

Baker, Tim

Bali

Ball, John “Doc”

Ballard, Bill

Ballard, Rochelle

balsa

Baltic Sea

Banks, Jim

Barbados

Barilotti, Steve

Barland, Michel

Barreda, Sergio “Gordo”

Barry, Michael

Bartholomew, Wayne

Baxter, Jackie

Bay of Bengal

Beach Boys, The

Beacham, Debbie

beachboys

beachbreak

Beachcomber Bills Grand Prix

Beachley, Layne

beavertail

Becker, Phil

Bedford-Brown, Stuart

Belgium

Bells Beach

Bendall, Ma and Pa

Bennett, Barry

Benson, Becky

Benson, Blanche

Benson, Linda

Bermuda

Bertlemann, Larry

Bright, acerbic Australian surf journalist and photographer from Sydney; cofounder of 

 magazine in 1970, but best known for "We're Tops Now," his 1967 

 article that celebrated the new generation of Aussie surfers while gleefully bashing the Californians.

Witzig was born (1944) in Sydney, raised near Palm Beach, began surfing in the late '50s, and started writing articles for Australia's 

 magazine in 1963. The following year he was a judge for the debut World Surfing Championships, held in Sydney, and two years later got his first taste of surf world controversy by writing much of the July-August "New Era" issue of 

, in which the magazine seemed to dismiss 1964 world champion Midget Farrelly in favor of younger Australians Nat Young and Bob McTavish.

When Young rode to victory in the 1966 World Championships—beating California favorite David Nuuhiwa and rendering the Nuuhiwa-led noseriding style of surfing obsolete—Witzig was justifiably upset at how the American surf press seemed to downplay the result. California surfers in particular, Witzig advised in his instantly notorious "We're Tops Now" article, needed to take off "the rose-colored spectacles" and come to grips with the fact that "everything the pedestal of California surfing is being built upon means nothing!" Witzig was shrill but correct: Young and the Australians had in fact changed the course of surfing, and the American's were avoiding the topic. "We're on top," he summed up, "and will continue to dominate." Witzig's statement remains true, arguably, to this day.

Paul Witzig, John's older brother, would document the next phase of Australian surfing in his 1969 movie 

 magazine from 1967 to 1969, then cofounded the counterculture surf tabloid 

 in 1970, along with surf filmmaker Alby Falzon and editor David Elfick. Witzig continued over the years to write articles for 

, and other surf periodicals, but never again struck a nerve as he did with "We're Tops Now."

John Witzig: Surfing Photographs from the 1960s and '70s

John Witzig: These are (mostly) photographs you've never seen before

A Golden Age: Surfing's Revolutionary 1960s and '70s

 was published in 2013. Witzig's work was prominently featured in "Arcadia," an exhibit that ran in Australia's National Portrait Gallery in Canberra in 2014.

Witzig, John

Subscribe or Login

Encyclopedia of Surfing

History of Surfing

Interviews

Features

The Sunday Joint

Contests