A Hurley H2O & Surf Aid collab — A creative and refreshing take on a charitable project that doesn't make its subjects look like something from a horror film.

The recent hoo-ha around Band Aid 30 should have been enough to persuade anyone that the days of poverty porn (in the name of charity) are over. It’s patronising, no matter how good your intentions are.

Which is why this video ‘Sammy The Explorer’, created by Stefan Hunt for Hurley H2O and SurfAid Sumba, is such a refreshing departure from the usual tummy-turningingly earnest narrative.

The video shows a bunch of surfers (or ‘ocean people’ lol) representing the non-profit organisations, who have worked with local communities over the last three years to build wells providing access to clean and safe drinking water for over 7,000 people.

The relationship between the surfers and the local people is explored in a creative and tongue-in-cheek way and draws light to an interesting and worthwhile project without pulling too hard on the heart strings.

A humble success in the age of overblown Facebook challenge-led campaigns.

Find out more about Hurley H20 and SurfAid Sumba.

Latest on Huck

Exploring the impact of colonialism on Australia’s Indigenous communities
Photography

Exploring the impact of colonialism on Australia’s Indigenous communities

New exhibition, ‘Under a Southern Star: Identity and Environment in Australian Photography’ interrogates the use of photography as a tool of objectification and subjugation.

Written by: Miss Rosen

My sister disappeared when we were children. Years later, I retraced her footsteps
Photography

My sister disappeared when we were children. Years later, I retraced her footsteps

After a car crash that saw Magnum photographer Lindokuhle Sobekwa hospitalised, his sister ran away from their home in South Africa. His new photobook, I Carry Her Photo With Me, documents his journey in search of her.

Written by: Lindokuhle Sobekwa

Inside New York City’s hedonistic 2000s skateboarding scene
Photography

Inside New York City’s hedonistic 2000s skateboarding scene

New photobook, ‘Epicly Later’d’ is a lucid survey of the early naughties New York skate scene and its party culture.

Written by: Isaac Muk

Did we create a generation of prudes?
Culture

Did we create a generation of prudes?

Has the crushing of ‘teen’ entertainment and our failure to represent the full breadth of adolescent experience produced generation Zzz? Emma Garland investigates.

Written by: Emma Garland

How to shoot the world’s most gruelling race
Photography

How to shoot the world’s most gruelling race

Photographer R. Perry Flowers documented the 2023 edition of the Winter Death Race and talked through the experience in Huck 81.

Written by: Josh Jones

An epic portrait of 20th Century America
Photography

An epic portrait of 20th Century America

‘Al Satterwhite: A Retrospective’ brings together scenes from this storied chapter of American life, when long form reportage was the hallmark of legacy media.

Written by: Miss Rosen

Sign up to our newsletter

Issue 81: The more than a game issue

Buy it now