40 Days and 40 Nights

“This was a trip I did with the Malloys and crew in the spring of 2005,” says photographer Jeff Johnson. “Keith and I hit the road in a bio diesel truck, traveling north to Bend, Oregon, then all the way to the tip of Baja. It was a 40-day surfing, climbing, driving, drinking, snowboarding, sleeping-in-the-dirt type of deal, hooking up with all sorts of different characters along the way. We ended up calling it Bend to Baja. As an afterthought, it became a book with the same title, published in 2006. Anyway, this was my first real assignment as a photographer. I’ve always been drawn to lifestyle, whether it’s delivered through words or pictures. For me it’s a subtle thing that’s hard to capture. The morning I took this picture somewhere in Baja I woke up under the “veggie” truck in my sleeping bag, grabbed my camera, and was just sniffing around. I took thousands of photos during that trip, color slides and black-and-white print film, and this is my favorite. It’s the type of image I’m always looking for, even ten years later.” Photo: Jeff Johnson