Roy Porello: A Tribute to Mike Hynson

San Diego-based photographer Roy Porello grew up in Pacific Beach, surfing and photographing the 1960s beach scene during a time of rapid progress in the sport of surfing. Under the mentorship of the San Diego underwater and surf photographer Ron Church, Porello became a fixture along the beaches of San Diego, documenting the waves and shorebreak along spots like Windansea, Crystal Pier, and Marine Street. He captured this freewheeling era on film with primarily black-and-white scenes of tanning women in bikinis, paddle board races, surf contests, beach parties and concerts, at times centered by local legends like surfers Skip Frye, Butch van Artsdalen, and Mike Hynson.

 

Hynson, subject of the photo here, was known for both his surfing and board shaping prowess. He grew up in Northern California but moved with his family to San Diego at age 10, becoming one of the founders of the Windansea Surf Club. Hynson achieved cult status outside of the region for his role as a central character in the landmark surf documentary of the 1960s, Endless Summer. In 1963, the same year this photo was taken, filmmaker Bruce Brown invited Hynson to join him and Robert August, another young surfer, on an international journey to search for the perfect wave, traveling to beaches across Senegal, Ghana, South Africa, Australia, Tahiti, New Zealand and Hawaii. By the late sixties to mid-seventies, Hynson was at the center of surf and psychedelic counterculture, having joined the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, a group of Laguna Beach hippies and psychonauts. In 1972 he developed the film Rainbow Bridge, a quasi-documentary on the counter culture in Hawaii, culminating with a Jimi Hendrix concert at the base of the Haleakala volcano in Maui.  Hynson was also a master shaper of boards, often working out of local surf shops as he crafted the famous and coveted Red Fin longboard, which he designed for the manufacturer Gordon & Smith in 1965.

 

We present this ONE exhibition as a tribute to Hynson who passed away in January of this year.