PHIL ERICKSON- Director

Phil Erickson is the managing director of digital and print publishing company Ohana Media Limited.

Born and raised in Christchurch, New Zealand, Phil started taking photos when he was 16, with a secondhand Pentax K1000. He practiced shooting surf shots of his buddies for a few years, before heading to Southern California, chasing surf. After 10 months travel, he returned via the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii where its beauty was to leave a lasting impression. Phil had acquired a professional water housing along the way, and swam out at the infamous ‘Pipeline’ to shoot the top surfers of the day.

Joey Buran takes cover under the lip at Pipeline, on Oahu’s North Shore

(December 1985) Photo Phil Erickson

Once back home, Phil pursued surf photography more and became recognised for his water shots, but he also started taking images in the mountains as snowboarding began to make its presence felt. In 1992 Phil and Ste’en Webster created New Zealand’s first snowboard magazine, New Zealand Snowboarder. As director, Phil has been in charge of all aspects of the magazine’s 63 issues to date, including production, advertising sales, photography and editorial contributions.

63 Issues of New Zealand Snowboarder…1993-2017

Phil has had the opportunity to photograph some of the greats of world snowboarding, including Travis Rice, Terje Haakonsen,Erik Themel and Gian Simmen along with most of New Zealand’s talented riders. Along the way, Phil also created New Zealand Skateboarder magazine in 1997, and published New Zealand Skier magazine in the late 90’s.

6 Page spread feature on Phil in Adventure magazine…June 2018

Phil’s photography has allowed him to travel extensively throughout New Zealand and he has captured some incredible scenes along the way. From his archives and those of other talented photographers has come a line of T Shirts depicting some of Aotearoa’s most iconic natural features. ( link here to home page t shirts?t shirts? )

Phil currently resides with his wife Rebecca and 8 year old daughter Naia at Wainui Beach, Gisborne, where he undertakes freelance photography work, contract editorial, and print and digital project management.