Brian Bielmann, 58, has been a surf photographer for almost 40 years, and is one of the biggest names in the industry. His nephew, Brent Beilmann, 25, is the hot new lensman in the water, whose images are regularly featured on the pages of Surfing magazine. Both are distinguished by their fearlessness — getting on the waves with their subjects, and putting us in the water with the world’s best surfers.
A few months ago, Brian got a phone call from the Gap saying they were interested in producing a line of surf t-shirts with his images. He then got a phone call from his nephew saying he had received the same call. As it turned out, both were being followed on Instagram by two different people at the Gap who thought the two Bielmanns were one. Once they realized the two were related and what a fun story that was, the concept of featuring the images of both photographers in the Gap x Bielmann Surfer Graphic Tee collection was born.
“I’ve been shooting on the front lines and have paved the way for surf photographers in the present, including Brent, who’s carrying on the Bielmann name, continuing to push the limits by getting deeper inside the barrel in death defying waves”, says Brian. “My story of starting out as young photographer, almost dying on the reef and hitting head first, lead me into shooting more than surfing, making the Bielmann name a household name. Brent’s story was more about having to live up to the Bielmann name, and ending up really pushing new boundaries. It’s really a mentor and tutor kind of theme, and now we are both still killing it.”
The 6-piece collection features 3 images from each and is now available online at Gap.com. To read more about Brian and view a portfolio of his work, check out this feature we did in 2014: PORTFOLIO: BRIAN BIELMANN
