Found at Bells Beach, Torquay in the late 60s with a camera in his hand, Peter 'Joli' Wilson, with his dual signature of blade-sharp surfing action and high exotica, has been pillar of the surf media for the last four decades. He’s currently senior contributor to just about every major surf magazine you can think of, and a couple more on top of that.
Peter Joli initial interest in photography came from his Grandfather, a successful amateur filmmaker and photographer. At the age of 14 he helped Peter process his first roll of B&W film shot on a camera given to him by his Godfather. On this roll of film, his grandfather had taken a photo of Peter holding his first surfboard, a 9'2" Gordon Woods. The scene was set!
Peter Joli Wilson first surfing image published was Narrabeen's Col Smith at the 1972 Bells Beach Easter Surfing Contest in the now defunct 'Breakout' Surfing Magazine.
In the mid 1970s Peter landed a job as an Assistant Photographer with the Australian Defence Department. He was assigned to a German Photographer, a perfectionist, and was expected set up his camera but forbidden to push the button. It was 2 years before Peter shot a single frame. The training included studio work, lighting, flash, B&W processing and printing. His German mentor told Peter that if he wanted to be a Photographer it had to be for 'love' not ‘money'. Now years later he may have been right about the money, Peter still loves what he does!
Over the next decade Peter pursued a professional photography career with various jobs working at Backdoor Surfing Magazine, Head Photographer at Deacon University before joining surf-wear giant Quiksilver as Advertising & Marketing Manager.
In 1989 Peter Wilson went freelance. With his wife Jan, they formed Joli Productions. The name came from his grandparents surname Jolly. Today,Joli Productions provides freelance services to both editorial and advertising markets in the Surfing Industry.
For the past 30 years Peter and Jan have traveled the world capturing the world's oceans, landscapes, beaches, surfing action, cultures and lifestyles. In the process, Joli Productions has developed an extensive Stock Photo Library that today reaches 1 million images, 1 million stories; no wonder why Peter Joli considers himself a #memorymillionaire.
