![]() ![]() We saw skateboarding go from an activity that only skateboarders even cared about, to the Olympics and the X-Games moneymaker that it is now. We were just stoked we could pay rent, travel, and get free film. Skateboarding has a history of booming every few years and then retreating from public view. For the first couple of years, we didn’t really know if the magazine, or even skateboarding, would last. In 1983, Larry Balma, the owner of Tracker Trucks (the axle component on skateboards), asked me if I wanted to submit some of my photos for a “newsletter” that they were working on, which turned out to be the codename for the first issue of Transworld SKATEboarding magazine. I worked at the park every day and would sneak out to shoot photos during my shift. Q: The photos you were taking created a cultural legacy was there ever a point when you realized that this was happening? That your work was meaningful in this way?Ī: When I began, I was just shooting my friends, locals, and the pros for fun. Every time I drive over the hill from my house in Encinitas and see the Pacific, I count my lucky stars. I moved to Cardiff in 1974, fresh out of high school, and knew I had finally made it. I grew up in Fallbrook and started surfing at 14 years old, and all I could ever think about was getting to the beach. I consider the 1980s to be the golden age of skateboarding, which was actually our working title for the book. Skateboarding evolved from the toy and sidewalk surfing, to a multi-dimensional self-expression the skateboard is the paintbrush or guitar. It was the era that birthed modern street skating and vertical skating went from the basic aerials and boards, and boards were being flipped and spun. We realized that we needed to narrow it down and focus on one decade of my skateboarding photos, and the 1980s were a very important period in skateboarding. Q: As you were going through 40 years’ worth of photos, what was it about those images from the ‘80s, specifically, that stood out to you?Ī: I originally wanted to do a 40-year retrospective of my work, but there were just too many important photos. Sunday to share some of his photos, answer questions about his career, and sign copies of the book. Grant Brittain-‘80s Skateboarding Photography,” and he’ll be at the Encinitas Library at 1 p.m. They’re among a number of others featured in Brittain’s book, “PUSH: J. Those friends from the 1980s would catapult skateboarding to the global stage and include names like Tony Hawk, Natas Kaupas, Mark Gonzales, and Steve Caballero. I just wanted to shoot my friends skating and it looked like a cool thing to do (and the chance of getting hit in the head by a bailed board just added to the excitement).” “About six months later, I borrowed my roommate’s camera and was immediately hooked. “I skated and surfed as a kid, and was lucky enough to live next door to a pro skateboarder, Wally Inouye, and he got me a job at the Del Mar Skate Ranch when it opened in 1978,” says Brittain. Grant Brittain could kick and push his way around on a skateboard, too, but he fell in love with the click of the camera that allowed him to capture the artistry of the sport. ![]()
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