New York mourns the loss of one of its most talented surf photographers and creatives

It is with heavy hearts that we learned this morning of the death of one of New York's true originals: surfer, photographer and all-round creative Andrew Blauschild.

The proud recipient of a recently published career-spanning profile in The Surfer's DiaryBorn in the Bronx in 1971, Andrew is a sixth generation New Yorker. In the early 2000s, Blauschild and long-time friend and frequent NYC and East End visitor Joel Tudor founded Kookbox, a surf brand based on artisanal board building, featuring handshapes from the likes of Bill Shrosbee, Stu Kenson, Hoy Runnels and others, as well as a wide range of apparel.

“Kookbox is a collaborative brand of surfers, amazing craftsmen and artists/photographers,” he told Whalebone. “We produce classically crafted surfboards with some of the best shapers and glassers in the industry. It's a rewarding labor of love to build custom surfboards for surfers around the world.”

Pat Schmidt, a recent resident of Montauk and Blauchild's favorite subject, posted the following on his Instagram.

“The connection I've built with Andrew since moving to the east end is indescribable,” writes Pat. “We always felt in sync. I felt like when he was on the beach, I could surf a certain way that meshed well with the way he wanted to capture images of surfing. I could see where he was moving on the rocks, knew immediately what shot he wanted to get, and adjust my position accordingly. I'd never had that before. I'd never wanted that before, but with Andrew it was different.

“I'm such a huge fan of his work that I wanted to do anything to be a part of it. We passed each other in the exact same spot on Nappegue Meadow five days in a row this summer, both with our middle fingers raised, followed by an hour-long phone call laughing our heads off about it. I'll miss those times but am so grateful to have been able to experience them. I love you Andrew, thank you for taking me under your wing.”

Andrew is said to have suffered a heart attack, but further information is not currently available.