Carol Cunningham: Surfing Photographer
Latest Update: 11 July 2009
Carol at Pokai Bay
Oahu's Leeward Coast
3 March 2007





Surf # 070303-008
   From her earliest years, Carol Cunningham has had a love affair with water. Growing up in Iowa, Carol was known on several occasions to fling herself into the deep end of swimming pools, long before she knew how to swim. Fortunately she was always pulled to safety.
   From there she progressed to jumping off perfectly good boats into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, eventually becoming a PADI rescue diver and scuba instructor.
Hawaiian Lifeguard Hall Danon
Desire DeSoto
   On vacation in Hawaii, Carol took a surfing lesson at Waikiki Beach, got hit in the face with a surfboard, and soon discovered that her favorite surfing moments occurred when she was falling overboard. Her total time actually standing on a moving surfboard is one-half second.
   Eventually, Carol and her husband Bob, an award-winning photographer and videographer, left their television news jobs in California and moved to Hawaii permanently.
Andy Irons
Kelly Slater
   Carol initially worked in Hawaii as a freelance news photographer for the Honolulu Advertiser, and the Associated Press, but soon found herself drawn back to the ocean.
   With the serendipity that has been the hallmark of her life, the first day she decided to see what surfing photography was all about, she showed up at the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, where the world's best surfers compete in the world's best waves.
Carol Cunningham's photographs have appeared in
Sports Illustrated, The Associated Press,
Japan's Surfin' Life, Sky Sports,
Surfer, Surfing,
USA Today, CNN.com,
in books, on websites,
and in publications around the world.
All photos copyright:
Carol Cunningham.
For reprint permission,
e-mail
CunninghamPhotos@aol.com
or call 1-808-226-7111
Custom Search
Surfing Sports Skateboard News Island Life Home Page Copyright About Us Contact Us
Visitors this Session