Tony “Harro” Harrington is not your average photographer. Hailing from Australia with a thick Aussie accent and a long running scar on his left cheek he received from an accident as a child, the sun-bleached blonde-haired, blue-eyed smiling snow and surf photographer’s career spans more than 40 years, with roots as both a sponsored surfer and big‑mountain skier.
Raised on the Central Coast of New South Wales, he grew up surfing Wamberal before walking away from a trade job as an electrician in his twenties to chase winters and swells full time. Since then he has carved descents on massive Alaskan peaks, chased 50‑foot waves in remote oceans, and earned over 200 magazine covers documenting elite athletes from Shane McConkey and Sage Cattabriga‑Alosa to Mick Fanning and Kelly Slater. Long published in ski, surf and adventure media, he now also focuses on fine‑art work through his HarroArt Gallery and recently released “Defining Moments,” a 1,300‑page anthology of his most iconic snow and surf images and the stories behind them.
I had the delight of meeting Harro at the La Sapinière Hotel in Chamonix this past February during one of his incredible slideshows for Defining Moments. Those images were nothing short of breathtaking, keeping us at the edge of our seats the entire slideshow. Harro and I chatted afterwards, and he turned out to be a humble, friendly, down-to-Earth feller. So when I got call later the next day from Harro asking in his chipper Aussie accent, “G’day! Do you want to go ski and shoot some photos today?” I naturally stopped whatever I was doing, packed up my ski bag, and obliged. Later, after getting taken photos of me and friends skiing that were the best any of us had ever had the privilege of being subjects for in all of our lives, I smiled at quote from the intro of his latest book that summed it all up perfectly:
“When you’re being spontaneous anything can happen—whether it’s a cracked windscreen or a plan tipped upside-down. It’s the story of my life. Duct tape holding things together and finding the fun along the way.”
These are those photos.
PHOTOS
(courtesy of Harro)
