SURF photographer Lucia Griggi lives an enviable life, travelling all over the world to competitions in a genre traditionally dominated by men.

Now everybody will get the chance to see Lucia's work with the opening of a new exhibition, Living the Life at the secretspot-stives gallery until November 11.

One of a small handful of women in the world to have broken through the male dominated ranks of surf photographers, and the only one in the UK whose work regularly appears in the top surf mags as well as the fashion press, she divides her time between homes in Newquay and Venice and travelling the world on photo assignments.

Still in her twenties, this exhibition is Lucia's first in the UK. A regular on the surf circuit for the last seven years, she admits that "surfing has inspired me to photograph. I love the people and the ocean." This exhibition brings these two aspects together in a series of studies which capture different facets of the surfing lifestyle. As well as exotic, Bounty-ad perfect locations like Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Lucia features less obvious surf locations like Alaska. However, her studies of idyllic surf spots also show the harsher social realities of destinations such as Morocco.

Lucia's work frequently appears in magazines such as Carve , Surfgirl, and Cooler magazine, and her advertising industry clients have included Calvin Klein, Coty, Davidoff, Budweiser and Fosters, as well as most of the leading surf and skateboard brands.

Lucia met Geoff Swallow, director of the secretspot-stives gallery through an assignment for Surfgirl magazine, in which Lucia travelled with the British junior surf squad to Tagazhout, Morocco, in February last year. I took one look at the photos,' says Geoff, whose daughter Tassy was among the surfers on the trip and I just knew that we had to give Lucia an exhibition. As well as a great photographer, she's a fantastic role model for women, breaking through in not just one, but two male dominated industries - surfing and photography.' Secretspot-stives gallery is the only gallery in Britain specialising in images of surf culture. As well as the photographs on display, the exhibition will also feature Lucia's images laminated onto surfboards, furniture, such as coffee tables, and even deckchairs!

The exhibition SurfLife' runs from 21st September to the 11th November at the secretspot-stives gallery, before transferring to London. The exhibition is open Wednesdays to Sundays, 10am to 4pm.

Secretspot-stives gallery is at The Old Sunday School, off the bottom of Bedford Road, St Ives, behind the Church. Please note there is no parking at the venue. Nearest parking is Barnoon or Malakoff car parks.