Behind the Lens - J Grant Brittain Talks Skate Photography

I was working for TWS in ’87 and was allowed on the "Gleaming the Cube" filming set, which was located at an empty swimming pool at a nice house in the Hollywood Hills. Upon arrival, I was stoked to see a few people I knew like Stacy; screen actor Tony Hawk, who plays Buddy; stunt double Mike McGill; stunt double Eric Dressen; screen actor Tommy Guerrero, who plays Sam; cinematographer Pat Darren (Animal Chin Filmer); and skater-actors Christian Jacobs and Max Perlich. I was given a few rules: don’t shoot photos while dialog by the actors is being filmed unless I have a camera blimp (a housing for my camera that makes it silent—yeah, like we use those in skate photography), stay out of the shot, and above all, enjoy the craft services (free food and beverages).

On my first plane trip for Transworld Skateboarding Magazine in the summer of 1983, I somehow found my way to Orlando with a group of skaters and ...

San Diego Magazine Skateboarding Feature

Thank you to San Diego Magazine for running my photography on the cover and an 8 page photo feature in their April Issue.

Mark Gonzales pictured here doing doubles with Tony Hawk on Tony's Ramp in 1988. Mark was was equally adept to Vert riding as he was to Street skating.

I have several prints of him available in my shop

I gave my designer friend, Josh Higgins, the black-and-white photo of Kevin Staab's ollie shot from 37 years ago and asked him to design a pop-art-like collab silkscreened poster for Staab and me to sign and number.

"Push" book signing this Sat, Sept 17th at 2PM at Barnes and Noble Encinitas

Second printing of J. Grant Brittain's book PUSH is available at http://gingkopress.com/shop/push/

How I met the skater who changed skateboarding, Mark Gonzales.

How the Nikon FM2 Changed My Skate Photography

The Story Behind The Push (and How It Almost Didn’t Become One of the Most Classic Skateboarding Magazine Covers)