Malibu Blonde

"I've lived in LA my whole adult life. About 10 years ago, I moved to Malibu for what I thought would be a few months. I never left. Why? Just a few dozen miles from Los Angeles, Malibu often feels like a totally different world. This is where you can share your breakfast with dolphins and seals, or watch surfers ride the perfect wave. But it is more than that. Malibu evokes a feeling of a simpler, happier, freer time. Go anywhere in the world and mention Malibu, and people associate it with images of that time: blonde women frolicking on the beach - young, pretty, happy, without a care in the world; old red Mustang convertibles; puppy dogs chasing footballs; Beach Boys music; movie stars; surfing and fun, fun, fun. Malibu is iconic. It is the Shangri-La of endless summer. I wanted to capture that energy of innocent, playful, free spirited sexy fun in this book, and share it. (Fun is wildly underrated these days.) My goal is to make people smile. And why limit smiles to people? So, all the money I make from this book and the images in it, will be donated to endangered animal charities (see last page, or go to www.malibublonde.com for more info). Maybe we can get animals to be happier, too. I want to thank first and foremost all the models, who volunteered their time in the hopes of helping animals. Special Thanks to: Marina Masowietsky, for casting so many of the models; Nina Borghi, Rebecca Wolcott and Julio Morin for organizing and coordinating so much of this, not to mention putting up with me; Jim George and Sean Derek, for their creative advice and everlasting support; and of course, Manfred Olms and the team at Edition Skylight, for their support, creative vision and great spirit. Have fun!" - Lawrence Kasanoff