Take a second right now and think about your favorite skate photographer(s). Are your eyes closed? Are you doing it? Okay, now open them. Whoever it is, I’ll tell you one thing—I almost guarantee J. Grant Brittain has had some kind of influence on that person.
Grant is as OG as they come. He was one of TransWorld SKATEboarding’s founding fathers. He saw every legend in skateboarding grow up. And more importantly, he was there to document it all with effortless grace. Decades and decades have gone by, and Grant is still—to this very day—out there snapping photos of skateboarders, purely for the love. The rush. Whatever you wanna call it.
It’s no surprise his archive is vast and he has a million timeless photos, but the Chris Miller “Pole Cam” shot is certainly one of his most iconic. Grant recently hopped on Instagram to share the story behind this epic moment frozen in time and how the “innovative” approach came to be. Take a look:
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Related: Capturing History: J. Grant Brittain Reminisces About His ‘First Day of Photography’ (1979)
“The Pole Cam Backstory. [Chris Miller] and I both claim the idea, but if truth be told, we got the idea from a surf photographer at the time,” Grant explains.
“In 1986, Chris Miller and I met up at the Upland Pipeline Combi and I mounted my Nikon FM2 on a tilting tripod head on a telescoping monopod with a squeeze bulb cable release attached. We shot a roll of color slide and black and white film from various angles and pulled off this nice one which also shows our shadows in the upper right which tells the story. I have prints in a variety of sizes available on my website jgrantbrittainphotos.com or my IG Bio. I appreciate any purchases since that’s how I make my living.”
Have you seen the video of Matt Price recreating this photo with Zach Miller—the son of Chris—with Grant there on the session? So rad. Tap the post above and dig a little deeper. Who knows what skateboarding would be like if Grant didn’t pick up that camera and start shooting photos? Don’t think too hard, though. The point is, he did. And we’re forever thankful for the years of inspiration.
