Jack Eden was an Australian photojournalist and publisher.

Picking up his first camera in 1955, Jack’s signature back-lit style with its “California feel” quickly evolved via his correspondence with Ansel Adams, the great American landscape photographer. Jack clicked his way through truckloads of film developing a catalogue of precision images that truly convey the uniqueness of a never-to-be-repeated period in Australia’s surfing life.

He established Surfabout Magazine which published 24 issues between 1962 and 1968. Its first print run of 10,000 flew off newsagents’ shelves in a week, such was the appetite of surf-starved gremmies and weekend warriors who literally devoured the ink from its pages.

Another career highlight was receiving the title of ‘Hasselblad Master’ in the 1980s for his coverage of the 18-foot skiffs racing series on Sydney Harbour.

An Australian Surfing Hall of Fame Honour Roll recipient, Jack was immensely proud of his inclusion into this select group and the recognition of his role as “the photographic biographer” of Australia’s 60s surfing era.

In 2000 he also received the Australian Sports Medal from Queen Elizabeth II for his significant contribution to the sport of surfing.

Stepping out from behind his lens, Jack was an avid board rider and eternal grommet. His love of and passion for chasing waves and competing grew ever more intense with age. Always at his beloved Cronulla, it often seemed he was the first one in and the last one out. He was a member of the Southside Malibu Club (Cronulla), and regularly competed at the annual festivals on the Gold Coast and Noosa.