Eugene Tan
By Infinity Squared 16 Aug 2011Eugene Tan has owned a camera since he was nine-years-old and been a keen surfer for 26 years, but it wasn’t until he became deeply frustrated with his day job as a corporate designer that he combined his two passions to pursue the almost unbelievable story that is Aquabumps.
What began in 1999 as a hobby, shooting the surf at daybreak and then emailing his mates soon became a morning ritual. Up early … get some shots and some waves in the bag, download the goods and flick them across the ether before going on to grind out his 9-5.
A growing following encouraged Uge to become a full-time surf photographer and the reward for his courage has paid off handsomely, the Bondi resident now a household name as a surf snapper, with a gallery selling artwork like it’s going out of fashion, a 200-page coffee table book and crowd of 40,0000 Facebook followers to his name.
Hey there,
I’ve just watched Eugene’s story on YouTube and was scanning through the comments and was surprised to find a lot of heated comments about money and race. Well, that inspired me to write to you guys. I am a 27 y.o. dentist, am originally from Brazil and grew up in a small
middle class family from Curitiba. Long story short, I left home when I was 22, didn’t speak a word of English, moved to San FRancisco-CA and had about $500 to survive per month. I learned the language, studied as hard as I could for 6 months.. was offered a coveted job at a top University in US. Lived there for 2 years, struggled, studied, surfed big waves in NorCal. When I was 24 was offered 2 scholarships to do a PhD in Sydney. Today, I’m 27 and am lecturer at Sydney Uni. I’m a singer and songwriter, music and surfing are my passion. I have over 100k hits on you tube, have recorded with Donavon Frankeireiter, and am about to release an album recorded by the producer of the band “the beautiful girls”. And to me, that’s just the beginning. Both in my academic and music lives. But most importantly… All, and I repeat, ALL that I have today, is what I’ve earned. Worked for it every step of the way. And God knows it wasn’t easy. Didn’t have a wealthy family to back me up. Didn’t win in the ‘lottery of life’, as some say, to be born in an Anglo-Saxon country. But That didn’t stop me from doing what I love and that goes to show that Money and race really don’t mean everything. And most times it means nothing. #this is just my testament to you guys, hope you understand if I ask you not to post it on the blog
Cheers – Luiz
I was just wondering what the song was that played in the background of this video!
Some genuinely fantastic posts on this website , thankyou for contribution.
What a great blog