Aaron Chang

Aaron Chang (August 9, 1956 in Tucson, Arizona) is an American photographer specialized in surfing and ocean photography. He spent 25 years as a senior photographer at Surfing Magazine; he was an early photographer to practice the act of shooting waves with a wide angle lens from the water.
Aaron later focused on fine art photography. He owns two art galleries that feature his work in San Diego and Solana Beach, California. Aaron lives in Carlsbad, California.

Early life

Chang was born in 1956 in Tucson, Arizona, the eldest of Howard and Marilyn Chang’s two children. Aaron’s father, a math teacher, introduced him to photography at age 9 when he gave him a Bellows camera.

The family moved to Imperial Beach, a region of San Diego, California when he was 11. In high school, Aaron swam competitively, surfed and worked in the lab developing photos at the high school where his father taught. Chang graduated in 1974 and after moved to Oahu.

Career

Surf Photography

Chang worked in Waikiki taking pictures of tourists at luaus at the Royal Hawaiian and on boat cruises. He then moved to the North Shore, where he worked as a photographer shooting postcards. Three years after, Larry Moore from Surfing Magazine saw Chang’s photography and put Chang on staff at the magazine in 1979.

In the 1980s, the photography industry saw new motor drives, improved lenses and higher-quality stock. Chang applied these techniques to shooting the sport of surfing. Chang was one of the early photographers to use a camera in the water to capture surfing photography. Chang’s most significant contribution to early surf photography was the use of ultra wide angle lens in the barrel in big waves, something that no one had tried before in the 1980s.

Chang was a senior photographer for 25 years at Surfing Magazine; his photos were selected for 38 magazine covers. His shot of an arcing wave at the Banzai Pipeline appeared on the cover of Surfing Magazine in 1985; it was the first significant empty wave shot with no person featured. Aaron Chang has traveled to 50 countries for book projects, films, and travel journalism assignments. His work has appeared in Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, GQ, People, US Weekly and Elle. He has shot a variety of subjects, including poets, surfers, bikini models and Nobel scientists, and elephants in the Namibian bush.

Other Projects

Chang was selected as one of the photojournalists for seven “Day in the Life” book projects. His work has been featured in illustrated surfing books, including Pure Stoke (1982), The History of Surfing (1983), and Surfing: The Ultimate Pleasure (1984). He was named one of the top five sports photographers by American Photographer Magazine in 1985. Chang has been featured on a variety TV shows, including networks such as PBS and Fuel TV. He is a featured subject in Doug Walker’s surf documentary “Lost and Found,” in 2011. Chang has worked on commercial accounts, including Polaris Industries, Yamaha Corporation, Levi Strauss & Co., Billabong, and Nike, Inc..

In 1994, Chang launched Aaron Chang Clothing, a beachwear line. One of his swimsuits was given as a gift to Bethany Hamilton, famous surfer and shark attack survivor, which was the same swim suit that she was wearing when she was attacked. Bethany Hamilton's swim suit and shark bitten surfboard can be viewed at the Courageous Inspiration: Bethany Hamilton exhibit in Oceanside, California at the California Surf Museum. The California Surf Museum also housed an exhibit titled "Aaron Chang: Water Housings and Cameras and Hobie: Shaping a Culture" in 2012 featuring every single one of Aaron's underwater casings used to capture his in-the-water shots.

Fine Art Photography

In 2009, Chang shifted to work in fine art photography with a focus on arcing waves, the sea and light. Aaron's photography has been featured in the San Diego Natural History Museum at an exhibit called "On The Trail of Ansel Adams". This exhibit highlighted black-and-white, nature-based imagery from multiple photographers that were inspired by the legendary photographer Ansel Adams. In his galleries, Chang's art is specially produced and printed onto Fujiflex crystal archive paper and cold pressed between two pieces of polycarbonate, using optically clear adhesive, locking the image in. This guarantees the bright colors will last for decades.

Famous Subjects

Surfers: Kelly Slater, Laird Hamilton, Rob Machado, and more.

Musicians: Joni Mitchell, Henry Seal, Perry Farrell, Chris Isaak, B.B. King, and Switchfoot.

Books

"San Diego: Through the lens of Aaron Chang" (3rd Edition)