Acclaimed New York Photographer Andrew Blauschild Pronounced Dead in Montauk

New York’s surf community has been dealt a tragic blow with the news that photographer and surfer Andrew Blauschild died from a heart attack on Monday, August 19. He was 53 years old.

According to the social media account Long Island Surfers, he suffered a heart attack after coming in from a session and was pronounced dead on the scene. Tributes to the creative artist began circulating soon after.

“I have been a fan, because just like all of us... Andrew, by his own admission, started out as a greenhorn kook, and wound up being quite the opposite, like we all hope to do. I've rarely seen anyone with a greater amount of pure STOKE,” wrote Mick Hargreaves, who runs the Long Island Surfers. “He leaves behind a monumental body of artistic work that visually documents just about everything you can imagine regarding area surfing. I saw him a week and a half ago, and we caught up on things. The stoke was there, as ever.”

In the fall 2023 edition of The Surfer’s Journal , writer Biddle Duke tagged along with Blauschild through Montauk, where the New Yorker had documented the region’s unique surf scene and which became his adopted home for 30 years. Originally from the Bronx, Blauschild worked steadily up the career ladder by working with high-end brands like Ralph Lauren and Oscar de la Renta. But it was the East End of Long Island and New York’s vibrant surf culture that captured his imagination and camera lens for so long.

“Andrew Blauschild is a New Yorker, through and through,” Biddle wrote. “You can hear it in the accent, the slight edge and the attitude (though he’s softened with age, friends say), his penchant for black clothing.”

“It gave me a classic education where in New York there was actually a surf culture that kept it real,” Blauschild said in the TSJ profile . Pat Schmidt, a Montauk surfer and a frequent subject of Blauschild, posted a touching tribute to his friend on Instagram.

“The connection I got to form with Andrew since moving to the east end is unexplainable. We always felt in sync. I felt like if he was on the beach I could surf a certain way that worked well with the way he wanted to capture images of surfing. I could see where he was moving on the rocks, know right away the shot he was trying to get and adjust my position accordingly. I’ve never had that before. I’ve never even wanted that before, but with Andrew it was different.

“I’m such a fan of his work that I wanted to do whatever I could to be a part of it. We had five days in a row earlier this summer that we passed each other on Nappegue Meadow in the same exact spot, both with middle fingers held high followed by a phone call cracking up about it that would end up lasting hours. I will miss those times but am so grateful to experience them. Love you Andrew, thanks for taking me under your wing.”

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