Biography

Dave Milnes

photographer

DAVE MILNES

I grew up near Wollongong NSW. My home beach has always been Port Kembla - one of the best beaches south of Sydney. I started board riding in 1958 on a 16 foot 'tooth pick' (old style paddle board), which you had to steer by dragging a foot over the side. One of the surf club members bought a hollow ply malibu which never got dry as everyone lined up to borrow it.

My first board was a balsa board followed by several Jackson boards. In 1963 Bob Evans (the editor of Surfing World) ran a photo competition. I submitted some photos and was highly commended. Bob then asked me to write some articles on the South Coast area. I also was writing articles for Jack Eden's Surfabout. In 1967 I went to Canada where I worked three seasons in ski resorts.

I came back to Australia in the 70s but was told that mals were gone and would never come back. I tried one of those silly little short boards but gave up and went sailing for thirty years - skiffs, dinghys, cats, sailboards, TYs and off shore yachts. Always taking photos.

In 1999 I was encouraged to get back into surfing and had a photo layout in Pacific Longboarder. This was followed by articles in Australian Longboarder. I still sell many of the early 60s B&W images. In 2004 I switched to digital photography as the quality was as good as film and now sell many colour photos.

still surfing

The Photography of Dave Milnes

This site is dedicated to the subculture within surfing that is represented in the switch-foot publication.

These images/artworks are for sale in a variety of options from postcards to original works...and it is up to the individual browsing the website to contact ac@switch-foot.com and request further information. Prints can be despatched within a week. Enjoy this library.

Selected Work