LomoAmigo Grant Brittain: Recreating the Chin Ramp
1 5Celebrating 30 years since the groundbreaking Powell Peralta video, The Search For Animal Chin. The original Bones Brigade recently reunited in Southern California to rebuild and redux the historic quad-inverts photo shot by J. Grant Brittain back in 1986.
Tell us a bit about yourself, and your background with photography.
My name is J. Grant Brittain and I began skateboarding in 1965 in my hometown of Fallbrook, California and I have lived in Encinitas, California since 1974. I borrowed my roommate's camera in February of 1979 while skating and working at the Del Mar Skate Ranch. I shot skateboarding for a year and then after a friend introduced me to the darkroom at Palomar College, I dove straight into photography. In 1983 I helped found Transworld Skateboarding Magazine where I worked for the next 20 years as the Photo Editor and Senior Photographer. It was over that time that I honed my photographic skills and built my friendships and professional relationships within the skate industry.
In 2003, a group of us left TWS and started up The Skateboard Mag and that's where I still shoot skateboarders today.
What was it like reconnecting with the Bones Brigade?
I have never really had to reconnect with the Bones Brigade. I have known all of them since the early 1980s when I was the manager of the Del Mar Skate Ranch pro shop and started shooting them when they were in their teens. I consider them all my great friends and 3 of them live close by. I see them around town and go to their birthdays and other events.
Do you remember the exact moment you made the iconic photo in 1986? What was it like to recreate the shot? How did that idea form?
In 1986, I worked at TWSkate and Stacy Peralta, the man behind the Bones Brigade invited me to shoot at a ramp built for Powell Peralta's new video, "The Search for Animal Chin". They built the ramp over a few days without permits or permission in Oceanside, California near our office and I shot 3 or so days of Mike McGill, Tony Hawk, Tommy Guerrero, Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero finding skate lines on this, at the time, Mega Ramp. Before their epic four handplant moment, they started with doubles and triples and then quadruples. They weren't really focused on me shooting the still of the handplants, they were really just working on the video with Stacy. These were the Days of Film, so I couldn't just walk over and show them the image like today. When my photo ran in Transworld as a spread and then a poster, it was kind of a big deal in the skateboard world. It has become one of my iconic images and I am quite proud of it, but I owe it all to the Bones Brigade.
Let's jump ahead 30 years to 2016, Steve Caballero had mentioned to me that we should reshoot the Chin Ramp, I thought it was a great idea. A bit later Tony Hawk told me he was going to rebuild it and wanted to know if I would want to shoot it again? Duh! A replica was rebuilt by the original ramp builder, Tim Payne at Woodward West in Tehachapi, California and a few hours into riding the ramp, the four Bones Brigade members, Hawk, Caballero, McGill and Mountain now in their late 40s and early 50s stalled their four handplants just like they did 30 years before. I was relieved and stoked to get The Shot. Some say you can never go back, tell that to the Bones Brigade.
Can you tell our community about these auctions?
This Auction is on Ebay via The Skateboard Mag and it consists of the Lomo Instant'Wide camera that I shot the Bones Brigade portraits with that day at the Chin Ramp. They are autographed by Hawk, Guerrero, McGill, Caballero, Mountain, Rodney Mullen, Stacy Peralta, George Powell, and Tim Payne. I also signed the backs of the photos. Also included in this package is an archival print of the Four Handplants signed by me and a couple of The Skateboard Mag's tees, hats and a subscription. All of the proceeds go to the Tony Hawk Foundation which helps build skateparks in low-income communities.
What was it like shooting with the Lomo'Instant Wide?
Shooting with the Lomo Instant'Wide was fun, I hadn't shot with instant film in a bit, so it took me back. Camera is easy to use and quite versatile. Subjects love waiting around to see what comes out.
Any tips for new users?
I suggest getting a lot of film and testing in different light situations.
What's next for you?
I just continue to shoot skateboarding, portraits, landscapes and abstracts and am working on my photo book and working on gallery photo shows. I also have an online store .
Now, you can own a major piece of skate history and bid on the Auction , where all proceeds will be donated to the Tony Hawk Foundation for the creation of future skate parks!
- PACK INCLUDES: 10 one-of-a-kind autographed portraits of the Bones Brigade shot on site September 29th, 2016 (Fuji Instax film) by Grant Brittain on the day of the Animal Chin anniversary inverts and signed by each original member of the Bones Brigade (Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Tommy Guerrero, Lance Mountain, Mike McGill, Steve Caballero) plus George Powell, Stacy Peralta, and Chin ramp builder Tim Payne.
- Signed 18x24” Fuji Crystal Archival (2016) Bones Brigade Handplants print by J. Grant Brittain ($300 value)
- Grant Brittain’s own Lomo’Instant Wide Black camera that was used to shoot portraits on this day with lenses, film to get you started, and his TSM x MARU signature wrist strap. ($300 value)
- Copy of the sold out 154th issue of The Skateboard Mag , documenting the historic 30 year anniversary of The Chin ramp. ($7 value)
- 1 Year subscription to The Skateboard Mag ($80 value)
- TSM Pooling Around “Haven” t-shirt ($25 value)
- TSM “150 Cover” t-shirt ($25 value)
- TSM deconstructed 5 panel hat ($25 value)
All of the instant photos also are signed on the back by J. Grant Brittain. For more of his photographs check out his Online Store or Instagram !
escrito por Katherine Phipps el 2016-11-30 #equipo #cultura #news #gente #lugares #skate-skateboard-culture-lifestyle-california-iconic
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