Interview: Jimmy Wilson / Photo Editor / Eastern Surf Magazine

By Nick McGregor / ESM

At 22, St. Augustine native Jimmy Wilson has already made an indelible mark on the saturated world of surf photography. Skyrocketing from teenage hobbyist to Photo Editor of Eastern Surf Magazine (ESM) in five short years, Jimmy has traveled the world and won an international action photography competition, all before most people graduate from college.

Drift: When and how did you start surfing?

JW: I started when I was about 10 with my sister, Kristin. Our mom would take us down to Crescent Beach, and we competed with each other the whole time.

Drift: How did you first become interested in photography?

JW: When I was 15, I started using my dad’s Pentax, with manual focus, manual shutter speed, manual everything, taking surf photos with my friends Matt Wetmore, Jonny Barclay, and Zander Morton.

Drift: When was the first time you got a shot back and said, “I think I can get this published?”

JW: One day when I was 16, I was shoot-ing next to Che Garcia, who was Dave Macri’s protégé at Blue Sky Surf Shop. He had nice equipment, and I had pretty shitty stuff, but when I got my film back I managed to get all the photos tack sharp, with good exposures. Che got a photo in ESM from that day, and I had pretty much the same picture — I thought mine was better, actually.

So I bought a better camera along with some slide film. Tory Strange wanted to do a Surf Station ad with Zander from my first roll of slides. I sent them to ESM, and Tory made me call Tom Dugan (publisher and cofounder of ESM). I was real nervous, but Tom said, “Yeah, you’ve got some good photos.” I ended up getting two pictures published from the first roll of slide film I ever shot.

Then I ordered a water housing, and the first time I swam out at Sebastian Inlet I got a shot of P-Con (Surf Station teamrider Pat Conner). And that ran full-page in ESM. So I had immediate, initial success. I think my first five rolls of water shots I got an average of one published per roll. I don’t even do that well now.

Drift: What did you do after graduating high school?

JW: I took a semester off. I tell you what, I don’t even remember what I did after high school. I was trying to think about it the other day…

Drift: It wasn’t that long ago!

JW: [laughs] I went on a couple of surf trips… then I did two semesters at Daytona Beach Community College. I didn’t learn much since it was all for beginners, but what I really learned was self-motivation.

Drift: Had you been published in other magazines by then?

JW: At that point I was published in Surfer, Surfing, Transworld, and Surfer’s Journal. I had a double-page spread in Surfing, then I got like eight pages of photos in one issue of Surfer. I brought that stuff in to my teacher at DBCC, and he said, “Why are you here? You know what you’re doing.”

Drift: So what happened next?

JW: I moved out to California and interned at Transworld. I MacGyvered it: no plan, no car, no anything. When I got out there, Pete Taras (Photo Editor of Transworld) was like, “Dude, you gotta get a car, you gotta get a place to stay.” So I bought a $1,000 car, moved in “guy-on-the-couch” style with a buddy of Asher Nolan (Jacksonville pro surfer). I stayed for three months, and I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for learning how photo editing and magazines work.

After that I moved straight to Puerto Rico. I lived there for eight months, and then got the call from Mez (Dick Meseroll, Photo Editor Emeritus and cofounder of ESM) looking for a photo editor. At first I didn’t want to take it, I was like, “I’m 20, there’s no way. I’m too young.” In the back of my mind I knew I wanted to do it at some point in my life. I finally said, “What am I doing, I’m not making any money… the hell with it, I’ll take it.” I’ve been here ever since.

Drift: Tell us about your other photographic accomplishments.

JW: I don’t know how much of an accomplishment I consider it. I mean, it’s my job, it’s not prestigious really. My friends think I’m some kind of famous person. My name’s in the magazine, but nobody reads the photographer’s credit. There’s a few famous photographers out there, but not many. And I’m not one of them.

As for accomplishments, the Red Bull Illume Quest stands above anything. That was the best of the best, every action sport, a worldwide scale. That was a big deal. I didn’t realize it until Red Bull flew me out to Aspen. The hotel room alone was like $1,500 a night, fifty photographers, ten different divisions… just being in the mountains and seeing the money they were dropping. It was so unexpected when I won the New Creativity division. I couldn’t believe it, and I still can’t believe it.

Drift: Your winning photograph toured the nation…

JW: It’s still going. They’ve had three displays so far, and they’re going around the world with it in the next year. It’s gonna go everywhere.

Drift: You mentioned Puerto Rico, California. Where else have you traveled?

JW: A lot of the Caribbean, Barbados, the Bahamas. And then Nicaragua and Costa Rica a bunch of times, Mexico, Indonesia, Australia. The truth is I haven’t been to that many places really, but it’s because I’ve been here at my job.

Drift: What are your goals for photography in the future?

JW: I just want to get better, build more of a portfolio, travel more. But you know, my main goal is just to have fun. That’s my number one priority: traveling with my friends having fun. That’s pretty much all I look forward to.

Drift: What other interests do you have?

JW: The Jacksonville Jaguars are it. They are my life, I’ve got everything Jaguars you can imagine, I go to every home game. I’d shoot pictures for the Jags in a heartbeat. Besides that, I love NASCAR [laughs]. The Bristol race I went to was the coolest thing ever.

I also like photography in general, not just surfing. I shot a medium-format portfolio of St. Augustine for school. I find myself going downtown whenever I’m home… [long pause] I guess I still like surfing. [laughs] I can’t do it ever, though.

Drift: Anything else?

JW: I like being home in St. Augustine, hanging out with my friends. I love the Dunes Cracker, you gotta mention I’m a Dunes regular. And I’m getting “Oldest City” tattooed on me…

(Writer Nick McGregor works with Wilson at Eastern Surf Magazine.)

You can sample Jimmy’s work at easternsurf.com or redbullillume.com.