Judge 2007

Garth Milan

PHOTO EDITOR, TRANSWORLD FMX

It all started with the cover of the Canyon Lake telephone book. Growing up in a hotbed of wakeboarding in California’s Inland Empire, Garth Milan had the opportunity to ride and shoot with some of the region’s best riders. About the time his first published photograph was plastered on the cover of the local yellow pages, Milan knew he’d been bitten by the photography bug so he enrolled in the photojournalism program at Cal State, Longbeach.

Milan honed his skills in the classroom and meanwhile scored a gig shooting and writing as an editor-at-large for Dirt Rider, a motocross specialty magazine. Though it was a bit of a transition from water to dirt, as a lifelong motocross rider Milan was stoked. He actually thought he’d landed the dream job until, upon graduation in 2000, Milan was offered a position at the newly formed TransWorld Motocross. He’s been there ever since, working as photo editor, associate editor, and senior photographer, shooting probably 70 percent of the photos published in the magazine.

Garth’s favorite photograph:
“My favorite was the cover of our 20th issue. It’s a black and white shot of Drake McElroy going around a corner out in these sand dunes and it was just one of those times when everything came together. It’s probably my favorite shot ever. It’s pretty funny too because Drake is this pro freestyle rider and the fact we used him on the cover going around a corner is really ironic. When it came out, he called me up and said, ‘My whole life I’ve never had a shot taken of me where I wasn’t up in the air doing a trick.’”

Are you seeing a new style or trend in photography or photographers?
“No, not too much. In the end, almost everything imaginable has already been done at one point or another.”