Nothing says California Cultcha like surfboards, sunsets, big blue waves and fun fearless females. And now Surf Girl Roxy is celebrating this lifestyle with photos spanning ten years of women on waves.

Like the staunch black and white images of rock n roll in Jim Marshall's Not Fade Away or the colorful shots of high society in repose in Slim Aaron's A Place in the Sun, I am drawn to worlds very far from my own. And so is the case with this vibrant photo essay, one that takes me from Bali to Big Sur to Biarritz for jaw-dropping barrel rides, exotic marine encounters, and adrenaline-filled moments of anticipation, all the while keeping in mind that girls just wanna have fun!

       Hinatea Boosie, Intercontinental Moora, 2007

The elevated caliber of photography comes in large part from the vision of  Dewey Nicks, tapped by Roxy to capture those fleeting moments when woman and nature seamlessly collide.

"This is a celebration of the lives we lead and the experiences we have on the road," Nicks says. "It's like a yearbook for most of us." And yes, there is a story behind every photo. "One of my favorites is a shot I took in Newport Beach back in 1996, where the girls are all on skateboards racing through the streets to the Wedge for a massive swell. The anticipation in the air was palpable."

Roxy's Randy Hild explains his confidence in Nicks, saying, "Dewey is certainly in the elite group of the world's top photographers, but while most of them come from the east coast- like Bruce Weber, we chose Dewey because he's deeply engrained in the California surf culture and understands what it's all about in a way unlike any of his contemporaries."

                     World Champion Chelsea Hedges in Tahiti 2007

And yes, the vivid images blow my mind, but when I look at the athletes in them, one thought takes precedence: “Why so pretty?”

Seriously why are surfers so damn beautiful?  A very Zen friend of mine tried to explain this, saying, “When you live your life in the harmonious ebb and flow of nature’s greatest forces, that beauty shines through you.”  Giggle. But it’s true. Everyone in this book is hot. Surf, sand and the pursuit of endless summer? Yeah, it does a body good.

THE DETAILS: Surf Girl Roxy
$35, Hardcover
Chronicle Books San Francisco

Story by Jordan Whitley.