Surf photographer and filmmaker Alan Rich, who died of cancer last week at age 68, began surfing at Torrance Beach, in LA's South Bay, in 1960. He was a little younger than—and very much in awe of—the Irons brothers, especially Ricky, who was on his way to becoming one of America's best high-performance surfers. (Ricky's tagalong little brother Phil finally got a board, raced up the learning curve, and eventually moved to Kauai, where he fathered Andy and Bruce.)

Alan picked up a camera not long after he began surfing. The Irons' boys were his favorite subjects at first, but as the boards went short, and the '60s rolled into the '70s, Rich seemed to find his way to the center of whatever surf zone he happened to occupy; Orange County, Biarritz, the North Shore. In 1967, he wrote and photographed his first article for SURFER, later he interviewed Jock Sutherland for 

, and I'm 90% sure it was Alan who named that massive, memorable 1972 day at Pipeline "Huge Monday." 

I never met Alan, but his Huge Monday article for SURFER thrilled me to the core. Still does:

Lopez takes off and can't make it down as fast as the wave can suck up. Gets pitched out. And over. Someone tells me he came out of the water bleeding over his eye and just picked up his board and left. I don't see Lopez again. By this time the sets are approaching fifteen feet. The inside walls are insane. Sammy [Hawk] likes it that way. So does Owl [Chapman]. Sammy gets smashed, as usual, in the most incredible places. He surfs with complete and total abandon. Gets into spots that no one else will go for. It's a miracle that he's stayed alive as long as he has. Someone else says that Rory got his back wrenched. Two outs. Surf is still coming up. I hear it said that it's the best Pipeline's been in six years. Who knows? The sets are now breaking on the outside reefs. Big. REALLY big. Thick and dark in the late afternoon sun. The inside reef becomes the inside section. Booby Jones was out of the lineup with cuts on his back. Three outs and the inside's retired. The players now are Owl, Jock and Sammy. Jock is paddling around pointing out the take-off spots, and Owl's just sitting there going "Yeah, man." Later I asked Owl how he rated those big lefts." He paused and smiled faintly. "It's the heaviest thing going."

, Rich's first surf movie, came out in 1973. Perfect title, great handbill, fine little hardcore flick. His follow-up, 

 (1981) better still, with lots of extended interviews (Horan, Richards, and Mark Warren included), and a hard-thumping Aussie soundtrack (INXS, Cold Chisel, the Angels). On that high note, Alan retired from filmmaking.

Living in Australia by that time, Alan earned an Environmental Science degree from Southern Cross University and later served on the Ballina Shire Council, where he often worked on environmental causes. He was married for 40 years and raised twin daughters. He also continued to surf, and was active in the Ballina Malibu Club.

Here are some photos of and by Alan Rich, and a short clip from 

ALAN RICH: 1948-2015

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