Sydney photographer, Dean Wilmot, fell hard and young for Hawaii. In the 80s his Mum worked for Pan – Am and United Airlines, which meant she could treat her son to long weekends in The Islands.

“I have those real fond memories even before photography started, surfing in Hawaii and the environment and the smell of it…” recalls Dean over the phone. “I remember surfing Haleiwa when I was 15 and it was beautiful… and really good Honolua Bay. I was just being a grommet just surfing and just loving it.”

At high school, on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, Wilmot developed a keen interest in photography and the regular Hawaiian sojourns gave him ample opportunity to cultivate his style. While other teenagers were back in Oz tossing popcorn at the local movie cinema, Dean was at Waimea dialling in his camera and absorbing the patterns of Hawaiian swells.

Adolescent distractions did nothing to temper Dean’s obsession with The Islands and by the time he turned 18 he’d bought his first Dave Kelly camera housing and committed to his first North Shore winter as a water photographer. “It just felt very natural for me,” explains Dean. “I love the water and love being immersed in the water, that liquid feeling.” Heading to Hawaii, Dean had good reason to feel confident in his abilities. A few months earlier he’d nailed a shot from land of prime-era, Martin Potter, blasting an audacious backside air at Sydney’s Whale Beach. Tracks ran the photo as the December 1987 cover and with a little help from Pottz, Deano was literally off to a flying start.

After a couple of test runs with the housing at Warriewood (around the corner from Narrabeen) 18-year-old Dean arrived on the North Shore and tossed himself straight into Rocky Point’s raging current. ...