2020 was a tough year for Rusty, with cancer taking its toll on him. I took this photo of Rusty on his verandah at home in Byron Bay as he reflected on the changes he was seeing in the town, with the wave of migrants from Covid-affected cities. Rusty is the author of Turning Point: Surf Portraits and Stories, which captures Australia's counter-culture era of surfing in the early 1970s. Rusty is considered surfing royalty, and is featured in one of the most recognisable images in surfing: the poster for the classic 1972 movie Morning of the Earth.
Courtesy of the artist
© The artist