The surfing magazine Surfer was first published in 1960.
Surfer began as a small publication created by photographer and filmmaker John Severson. Its first issue grew out of a promotional booklet connected with Severson’s 1960 film Surf Fever, but the magazine quickly developed into an influential independent voice for surf culture.
The publication helped bring surfing photography, travel writing, competition coverage, and commentary to a wider audience. During the 1960s, surf magazines played an important role in shaping the public image of surfing and documenting the sport’s rapidly expanding communities in California, Hawaii, and Australia.
Surfer is sometimes confused with later titles such as Surfing magazine, which was founded in the 1960s. The original Surfer title is particularly associated with Severson and is often described as one of the foundational magazines of modern surf media.