Who was Larry Haynes? Surfing community mourns the loss of photographer

The surf cinematographer, Larry Haynes, passed away after suffering a heart attack in his car. News of his demise has left people in shock as several surfers shared the news on social media.

The news of his demise was shared by David Elecciri Jr., who said that the cinematographer suffered a heart attack after he surfed at Laiakea Beach in Hawaii. David added that just a few days ago, Haynes had called him to go have lunch and for a surf at Lani's. He noted that whoever knew Larry knew that he was as "strong and as real as they come."

It is reported that Larry Haynes was in Laniakea to surf when he had the fatal heart attack in his car.

---

The surfing community is shocked about the death of Larry Haynes

Following the news of Larry Haynes' death becoming known to people, the surfing community is in deep shock about it. Several surfers have said that they will always carry his spirit with them.

People took to social media to express their grief about Larry's death, and iconic surfer, Rob Gilley also took to Instagram to share his thoughts about it. In the post, he spoke about Larry and said that Larry, who was originally from Central California, moved to Hawaii "decades ago and never looked back."

Gilley added that Larry swam on every major swell for the last twenty years with a heavy water-housed film camera in the "heaviest conditions." He noted that the cinematographer did it all with a positive attitude and a huge smile.

The surfer even added that he believed Larry was a "precious character" in the surfing world and a living legend. He recalled:

"I have seen him shooting wide-angle in-water film at giant closed-out Off The Wall, Backdoor, Maverick’s, Teahupoo, and Waimea."

Recalling another incident, Gilley said that he was with Larry in Australia as the latter shot wide-angle water movies at the sharky Easter Reed. He said that the faces of the sets were 25-foot, and added:

"Before GoPro existed, Larry used to surf with a 10-pound camera attached to his head—a camera that would break your neck if the lip hit you unexpectedly. The guy is a human bulldog."

---

A look back at Larry Haynes' contribution to the surfing world

It is reported that Larry Haynes was a filmmaker and cinematographer, and a North Shore Pillar for more than three decades. He loved being in the ocean, and has worked on Hollywood projects like Chasing Mavericks.

Other than this, he was also profiled in 2019, in HBO’s TV series Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel‘s Risky Business segment of episode 265). He also shot the underground surf film series Fluid Combustion, which was released in 1999.