Judge 2007
Grant Brittain
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY / SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHER, THE SKATEBOARD MAG
The elder statesman of skate photography, Grant Brittain has been capturing the seminal moments of the skate scene for the past 25 years. Odds are, growing up you had at least one of his photos plastered to your wall. Grant’s historical shots, especially those of the Bones Brigade era, are still being published in magazines today. And they remain as potent as ever.
Though Grant has one of the most beefy pedigrees in the industry, his rise to photography fame was all a bit unintentional. “I’d skated since I was a little kid but I was always into art and thought I would be a cartoonist or artist,” he says. “Then when I started shooting skate photos that light bulb went off, just like in the cartoons. I was 25 when I picked up photography and it was totally by accident. I never thought I’d be working for a magazine.”
In 1983, Grant was asked to contribute some of his skate photos to the inaugural issue of Transworld SKATEboarding. He did so and soon became the founding photo editor and senior photographer. There he stayed for 20 years, pumping out some of the finest skate photography until 2003 when Grant and a handful of the TWS staff made a mass exodus to start The Skateboard Mag.
Grant is still going strong, even after being in the middle of the skate industry for more than two decades. Skateboarding is a world that thrives on youthful energy, and that, in turn, keeps Grant feeling young too. Skating is his life. “I just love the style and the look of skateboarding and the feel of it. When I’m around people that aren’t skateboarders, I feel kind of weird,” he says. “And when I’m around other fifty year olds, I mean, what do we talk about?”
What makes a great photo?
“A photo that makes me want to go take photos or go skateboarding.”
Most embarrassing photo moment:
“I was shooting at a Del Mar contest, and you know it’s pretty compact around the pool and my foot was sticking out during someone’s final run. I don’t remember who it was but he ran over my foot and ate it, and the whole crowd just started yelling at me. Most of the people knew me there. The locals and the skaters knew me, so half of the yelling was in fun but the other half didn’t know who the hell I was. That’s one of those moments where I was totally embarrassed. I don’t want to be a part of the action—I just want to be documenting it.”
