Aaron Chang (born August 9, 1956)[1] is an American photographer specialized in surfing and ocean photography. He spent 25 years as a senior photographer atSurfing Magazine; he was an early photographer to practice the act of shooting waves with a wide angle lens from the water.
Chang later focused on fine art photography.[2] He owns two art galleries that show his work inSolana Beach andCarmel-by-the-Sea, California. Chang splits his time betweenCarlsbad andCarmel, California.
Chang was born in 1956 inTucson, Arizona,[1] 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 aBellows camera. The family moved toImperial Beach, a region ofSan Diego, California when he was 11.[3] In high school, Chang swam competitively, surfed and worked in the lab developing photos at the high school where his father taught.[4] He graduated in 1974 and after moved toOahu.
Chang worked inWaikiki taking pictures of tourists at luaus at the Royal Hawaiian and on boat cruises.[4] He then moved to theNorth Shore, where he worked as a photographer shooting postcards. Three years after, Larry Moore fromSurfing Magazine saw Chang's photography[5] and put Chang on staff at the magazine in 1979.[6]
In the 1980s, the photography industry saw new motor drives, improved lenses and higher-quality film stock. Chang applied these techniques to shooting the sport of surfing. He was one of the early photographers to use a camera in the water to capture surfing photography.[6]Chang's most significant contribution to early surf photography was the use of anultra wide angle lens in the barrel in big waves, something that no one had tried before in the 1980s.[1]
Chang was a senior photographer for 25 years atSurfing Magazine;[7] his photos were selected for 38 magazine covers. His shot of an arcing wave at theBanzai Pipeline appeared on the cover ofSurfing Magazine in 1985; it was the first significant empty wave shot with no person featured.
Chang has traveled to 50 countries for book projects, films, and travel journalism assignments.[6]His work has appeared inNewsweek,Sports Illustrated,GQ,People,US Weekly andElle.[8] He has shot a variety of subjects, including poets, surfers, bikini models and Nobel scientists, and elephants in theNamibian bush.[9]
Chang was selected as one of the photojournalists for seven "Day in the Life" book projects.[1][10]His work has been included in illustrated surfing books, includingPure Stoke (1982),The History of Surfing (1983), andSurfing: The Ultimate Pleasure (1984).[1]
He was named one of the top five sports photographers byAmerican Photographer Magazine in 1985.[9]Chang has been featured on a variety TV shows, including networks such asPBS andFuel TV.[citation needed] He is a subject in Doug Walker's surf documentaryLost and Found (2011).[citation needed]
Chang has worked on commercial accounts, includingPolaris Industries,Yamaha Corporation,Levi Strauss & Co.,Billabong, andNike, Inc.[citation needed]
In 1994, Chang launched Aaron Chang Clothing, a beachwear line. TheCalifornia Surf Museum also housed an exhibit titledAaron Chang: Water Housings and Cameras and Hobie: Shaping a Culture in 2012 showing all of Chang's underwater camera housings used to capture his in-the-water shots.[11][12]
In 2009, Chang shifted to work in fine art photography with a focus on arcing waves, the sea and light. Chang's photography has been included in theSan Diego Natural History Museum at an exhibit calledOn The Trail of Ansel Adams.[13] This exhibit highlighted black and white, nature-based imagery from multiple photographers that were inspired by the photographerAnsel Adams.