Taylor Steele: The Observer Effect

Taylor Steele: The Observer Effect

Author: Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich - surf stories & ocean adventures August 2, 2021 Duration: 1:20:04

If the act of looking at something changes it – an effect that holds true for people, animals, even atoms -- then what further impact does documenting have?

Over the course of the last 30 years, Taylor Steele's observations and interpretations have helped to define and redefine surf filmmaking -- and to shape the modern, California-centric culture of surfing.

In the 1990s Taylor documented a new era of approaches to wave riding through films like Momentum and Loose Change. Later, his cinematic surf travelscapes like Sipping Jetsteams, Castles in the Sky, and Proximity paid poetic justice to the beauty of an adventurous surfing life --  a creative shift inspired by the birth of his daughters.

Taylor shares stories about finding a way to do what we love,  the impact of fatherhood on his creative process, his formative family surfing experiences, being the 3rd best surf filmmaker in his high school, and realising a formula for making good memories.

...

"Taylor, you’re the kinda guy who’s a real observer. That’s probably why film became your thing because you like to watch. And maybe you don’t make a strong opinion in words, but you do in the things you put out.”Kelly Slater, on Taylor Steele.

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound Engineer & Music By: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music: ‘Evergreen’ by Band of Frequencies:  Men of Wood & Foam album  www.bandoffreqs.bandcamp.com

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast

Waterpeoplepodcast.com



Photo Credit: Taylor Steele

Send us Fan Mail

...

Listen with Lauren L. Hill & Dave Rastovich

Sound + Video Engineer: Ben J Alexander

Theme song: Shannon Sol Carroll

Additional music by Kai Mcgilvray   + Ben J Alexander

Join the conversation: @Waterpeoplepodcast 

...

Thanks to our generous sponsors this season:

Patagonia Australia 

Alkaway

The Sunglass Fix

...

Get monthly musings and behind the scenes content from the podcast by subscribing to our newsletter.

You'll get water-centric reading and listening recommendations, questions worth asking, and ways to take action for the wellbeing of Planet Ocean delivered straight to your inbox.

You can stream every Waterpeople episode from your desk.


There’s a particular kind of life shaped by time spent in and around the ocean, one that blends saltwater with a deeper perspective. Hosted by lifelong surfers and storytellers Lauren L. Hill and Dave Rastovich, the Waterpeople Podcast explores exactly that. Each conversation is less an interview and more a shared dive with guides who know the water intimately-from scientists and activists to adventurers and artists. You’ll hear firsthand accounts that stretch beyond simple adventure tales, touching on how a connection to the sea informs everything from ecological stewardship and community building to the pure, playful joy of a wave. This podcast serves as a meeting point for a far-flung tribe, weaving together themes of inclusivity, humour, and what it means to live thoughtfully along the coast. It’s about the stories that emerge when people are truly at home in the aquatic world, offering listeners a sense of place and connection within a global ocean community. Tune in for genuine, meandering talks that feel like sitting around after a long day in the swell, where the topics are as vast and shifting as the sea itself.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 133

Waterpeople Podcast
Podcast Episodes
Daize & Aamion Goodwin: A Holy Pause [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:26
The living world moves in pulses, defined equally by motion and pause. As waterpeople, we know this. Daize & Aamion Goodwin are a couple of exceptional surfers who have taken to applying the philosophy of the pause to da…
Surfers for Climate Action Now with Belinda Baggs [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:27
Co-founder of Surfers for Climate and iconic waterwoman Belinda Baggs shares her story of taking action on what she sees as the greatest threat to her son's health and wellbeing: climate change. Belinda shares a cornucop…
Taki Gold: Scar Gazing [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:02
He fled from civil war on foot as a six year old, physically unscathed, but forever changed by the unthinkable violence, rhythms, and energy of Liberia's internal conflict. After making his home in California, Taki Gold…
Nature as the Third Parent with psychologist Robin Grille [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:32:55
What does the way we treat children say about who we are as individuals, and as a culture? Our guest, psychologist and father Robin Grille, believes that parents and teachers are amongst the most powerful agents for soci…
Jack McCoy: Life & Breath [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:03
Seven years ago, an episode of breathlessness after bodysurfing -- and subsequent health challenges (including a 15% chance of survival) -- shook up Jack McCoy's single-minded focus on filmmaking. Jack has crafted 25 fea…
Changing the Visuals with RHONDA HARPER [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:13:33
Rhonda Harper is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran, and founder of the NGO Black Girls Surf, which creates access opportunities for black and brown women and girls to experience surfing. Black Girls Surf is fostering a new gene…
Valerie Taylor: Sixty Years with Sharks [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:24
Do you have a memory about the movie JAWS? Australian icon Valerie Taylor was commissioned by Steven Spielberg, along with her partner Ron Taylor, to shoot the live action scenes for his unforgettable classic -- a film t…
Lynne Boyer: All These Secrets [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26:27
Our cultural heros, and especially our sheros, seem to always glimmer with a steely façade of smiling heteronormative perfection. The soft underbelly of this manufactured reality is often left unspoken. Parallel to her t…
Isaiah Helekunihi Walker: Claiming Kuleana [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:41
How far are you willing to go to protect the place where you live, love and belong? Native Hawaiians have had to face this question regularly over the last century or so, as colonialism threatened, and continues to threa…
Susan Casey: Fathoming [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:01
What do you do with sparks of curiosity? Susan Casey follows many of them into full immersion: jet skiing down the face of a Pe'ahi set wave with Laird Hamilton, into the lightless innerspace of the deep marine biosphere…