THE PT “SOUL ARCH” BY MARTY TULLEMANS

SURFER: PETER TOWNEND

LOCATION: SPOT X, COOLANGATTA

DATE: AUTUMN 1975

Marty Tullemans had recently migrated from Noosa to the Gold Coast to chase his dream of shooting surf photos for a living. His timing was bang on, as the original Coolangatta Kids – Peter Townend, Michael Peterson and Rabbit Bartholomew – rose to surfing greatness. Marty captured this section of the Coolangatta beachfront, known as Spot X, from the Kirra groyne, as PT flexed his matador-style on a perfect little peeler. “He held that pose for a good 10-12 seconds as the section thundered along the bank,” Marty later recalled. “PT was one of the few who had a feeling for the wave and knew how to flow with it, rather than fight it, which kind of fitted with my artistic nature.” Shot with a manual focus Pentax Takumar 500mm f4.5 lens, the skill of “pulling focus,” is a lost art in the age of auto-everything cameras. “Just to see that photo still holds a place in this day and age makes me feel good as an artist because my art, my work lives on,” said Marty. 18 months later, Peter Townend claimed the first pro surfing world title. And Marty achieved his dream of making a living from surf photography. “I’m pretty stoked. As long as I can have my office at the beach it’s cool.”