JO JAHNS CACHIA

      Got my first brownie box camera when I was about 8 years old by saving the wrappers off of Scott paper towel packages and sending them in for a free camera!

I caught the photography bug and have never lost it!…I shot everything in sight. Butterflys, cats, dogs, then by junior high school I was shooting for the yearbook and school newspaper.  I was fortunate that my High School had a fantastic photography

Program with darkrooms and a great teacher, Mr. Titus, who nurtured me and told me about Brooks Institute of Photography.  One of the best Photography colleges in the world.  My  career was set.

 

• From 1972 when I made my first trip to Oahu (for high school graduation), to the present day, Hawaii is one of my favorite places on earth.  It is still a joy for me to travel there with my family and share that special ALOHA with my husband and beautiful daughters.
• While attending Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, 1972-1976,

I made several trips to Hawaii and in particular the NORTH SHORE.

• In school we shot nothing but large format cameras: 4×5 and even larger. But whenever I traveled I took my 35mm Yashica. Travel photography became a passion.
• In those days I mostly shot Kodachrome and Ektachrome slides and Tri-x 400 asa black and white film.
• The surf photos in this show were from negatives that I experimented with by over developing them to attain a grainy look.  (the old fashion way! No photoshop then!)
• I would always collect puka shells with my Hawaiian friends, from the north shore beaches , so I could make necklaces and take them back to the Mainland and sell them at UCSB.  Then I would pay for my next vacation to the islands! I did this several times during my College years. But nothing was more special than the winter of  ’74 for me.

 

• Usually I would travel with a friend or two that had “connections” and a place to crash somewhere on the North Shore. We’d walk or bus everywhere.
• The year I shot these photos I was there for the month of December 1974

And was focusing on fun probably more than focusing on my camera J

• And was staying with a lifeguard at Kawela Bay.  Unknown to me my favorite uncle Boscoe Burns, was living just about 10 houses away!
• Not until more than 20 years later did I realize it!
• My Uncle Boscoe was a glasser and also lived for many years up on Pupukea and we became very close in later years until his death
• His son was Ronnie Burns, who was a fantastic and well loved surfer who grew up on the North Shore. Tragically Ronnie passed away 1990 at 27 yrs old..
• I only surfed with Ronnie once…but he was a joy to watch.
• Life is like a box of chocolates….I feel mine has been especially blessed.
• Suntanned body, warm surf, white puka shells and a bright smile made a happy heart.
• I have so many fond memories of the North Shore, and I feel lucky to have been able to document the unbelievable Gerry Lopez…at Pipeline.
• Future Foto shows?:  Guatemala, Mexico, Sunsets, EURO, Fiji, Australia’s 1987 AmericasCup,  Tonga, …….????

The Photography of:

Jo Jahns Cachia

 

LOCATION: 1709 N. El Camino Real, San Clemente CA. 92672 (Get Directions)
DATE: Saturday, November 12th, 2011
TIME: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

 

Noll Surfboards & Gallery is proud to announce the opening of an exclusive showing of the photographs and other work of mixed-media artist Jo Jahns Cachia at its San Clemente flagship store on November 12th.

The show centers around Cachia’s images of surfing icon Gerry Lopez at Pipeline in the mid-1970s, making it a must-see exhibit for anyone interested in great photography and great surfing!

An accomplished surfer herself, Cachia has experienced much of surfing’s history first-hand. Born in Newport Beach, raised in Pasadena, she started surfing in Cardiff in the mid 1960s; she’s been taking pictures since she was eight. Her mother took her to Hawaii as a high-school graduation gift (“She bought the tickets by saving up all of the laundry money,” Jo recalls), and that was all it took – Jo has been fascinated with surfing, and the North Shore ever since (the subjects of her watercolors are most often exquisite tropical flowers, which will also appear in this show).

As a young photographer and graduate of Brooks Institute, Jo found herself in the right place at the right time, as the best surfers in the world rode the best waves in the world – with just a handful of photographers on the beach to immortalize the action and ambience. Her images of Gerry Lopez (the “Mr. Pipeline” of his era), iconic and evocative masterpieces of action photography, are the centerpieces of this unique gallery showing.

The opening begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday, November 12th. Please come join us for some amazing photography, mix media, great food, good drink, family and friends. Don’t miss it!
Artist’s Statement