J. Grant Brittain (born 1955) is a photographer internationally recognized for his work documenting skateboarding. Brittain has been shooting skateboarding for over 30 years.

Skateboarding

In his early 20s, Brittain got a job at the

Del Mar Skate Ranch The Del Mar Skate Ranch, also known as the DMSR, was an American skatepark in Del Mar, California, which opened August 1978 and was demolished July 1987. History DMSR was designed by IPS (Inouye’s Pool Service) staffers Tom Inouye, Chris Strop ...

, starting work on the second day the

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, Freestyle scootering, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairw ...

was open.

Photography career

Brittain began photographing skateboarding in 1979 at Del Mar. Brittain photographed many professional skateboarders skating at Del Mar including

Tony Hawk Anthony Frank Hawk (born May 12, 1968), nicknamed Birdman, is an American professional skateboarder, entrepreneur, and the owner of the skateboard company Birdhouse. A pioneer of modern vertical skateboarding, Hawk completed the first docume ...

Steve Caballero Steve Caballero (born November 8, 1964) is an American professional skateboarder. He is known for the difficult tricks and air variations he invented for vertical skating and for setting the long-standing record for the highest air achieved on a ...

Mike McGill Mike McGill (born 1964) is an American skateboarder who is best known for inventing the trick " McTwist", an inverted 540 degree mute grab aerial. Professional skateboarding McTwist A McTwist is a transitional trick that was invented by McGi ...

, and many others. Brittain became one of the first professional skate photographers to make a living photographing skateboarding. In 1983, Brittain helped found

Transworld Skateboarding ''Transworld Skateboarding'' (''TWS'') is an international magazine on skateboarding that was based in Carlsbad, California, United States. The publication also ran an accompanying website and video production company. In February 2019, the pub ...

working as an editor and senior photographer. While working at ''Transworld'', Brittain also provided content to creators of self-published skate

zine A zine ( ; short for ''magazine'' or ''fanzine'') is, as noted on Merriam-Webster’s official website, a magazine that is a “noncommercial often homemade or online publication usually devoted to specialized and often unconventional subject ...

s, such as Steve Caballero's ''SPEED Zine,'' published in the mid 1980s''.''

References

External links

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J. Grant Brittain 20/20 - Video Interview

Featured Photographer: J. Grant Brittain - A Legacy of Influence - Analog Forever
Skateboarding photographers Living people 1955 births {{Skateboarding-bio-stub