LeRoy Grannis was blessed to grow up beachfront. He was a water warrior from a young age. By 5 years old he was body surfing in the ocean with his father. LeRoy soon grew tired of just swimming and made himself a wood bellyboard. The bellyboard was often brought on vacation to his mother's house in Florida and used extensively.
LeRoy started kneeboarding in 1931 with a board he made from a piece of pine. Once he masters the kneeboard, Grannis started borrowing stand up surfboards from mates in Hermosa beach. An avid surfer, Grannis joined the Palos Verdes Surf Club.
Grannis eventually grew up and had a hard time balancing school, work, surfing and family life. He studied at UCLA until the Depression, after which he had to quit and take a job as a carpenter.
Pacific Bell is the next place Grannis found himself working, thanks to some surf buddies of him arranging a job for him. With the new found income, Grannis had the time and money to start practicing his photography craft, which would later become a new career path.
The first photos of Grannis to be published were put into Doc Ball's book, California Surfriders. This success brought Grannis closer to the surfing community and he started surfing in contests and working with the United States Surfing Association.
Leroy was working too hard at his job and eventually found himself with an ulcer. His doctor recommended that he take a break in order to recuperate. Durring LeRoy's time away from work he began photographing more and ended up getting his work published in magazines such as Surfer, Reef, and Surfing Illustrated.
Grannis became one of the most important photographers of his time because of the amount of surfing culture that he documented. What made Grannis more successful than other photographers of his time was his invention that allowed him to change film while in the water. This saved him a lot of time, and allowed for more great shots.
Grannis's photography career took off and he spent 10 years photographing the world's best surfers in Hawaii and California. His command over surfing photography resulted in him becoming the photo editor to Surfing Illustrated and a c-founder of International Surfing.
Grannis was inducted into the Internation Surfing Hall of Fame as the best photographer in 1966. In 2002 he was awarded a lifetime achievement award. Surfer's Journal also did a feature article on him in an ode to master photographers.
Grannis now has a limited edition book title Birth of Culture and his photos have also been featured in the recent film Riding Giants.
Title: A Visit to the Shaper Artist: Leroy Grannis
Title: Surfing in the 60's Artist: Leroy Grannis - 17944
LeRoy started kneeboarding in 1931 with a board he made from a piece of pine. Once he masters the kneeboard, Grannis started borrowing stand up surfboards from mates in Hermosa beach. An avid surfer, Grannis joined the Palos Verdes Surf Club.
Grannis eventually grew up and had a hard time balancing school, work, surfing and family life. He studied at UCLA until the Depression, after which he had to quit and take a job as a carpenter.
Pacific Bell is the next place Grannis found himself working, thanks to some surf buddies of him arranging a job for him. With the new found income, Grannis had the time and money to start practicing his photography craft, which would later become a new career path.
The first photos of Grannis to be published were put into Doc Ball's book, California Surfriders. This success brought Grannis closer to the surfing community and he started surfing in contests and working with the United States Surfing Association.
Leroy was working too hard at his job and eventually found himself with an ulcer. His doctor recommended that he take a break in order to recuperate. Durring LeRoy's time away from work he began photographing more and ended up getting his work published in magazines such as Surfer, Reef, and Surfing Illustrated.
Grannis became one of the most important photographers of his time because of the amount of surfing culture that he documented. What made Grannis more successful than other photographers of his time was his invention that allowed him to change film while in the water. This saved him a lot of time, and allowed for more great shots.
Grannis's photography career took off and he spent 10 years photographing the world's best surfers in Hawaii and California. His command over surfing photography resulted in him becoming the photo editor to Surfing Illustrated and a c-founder of International Surfing.
Grannis was inducted into the Internation Surfing Hall of Fame as the best photographer in 1966. In 2002 he was awarded a lifetime achievement award. Surfer's Journal also did a feature article on him in an ode to master photographers.
Grannis now has a limited edition book title Birth of Culture and his photos have also been featured in the recent film Riding Giants.
Title: A Visit to the Shaper Artist: Leroy Grannis
Title: Surfing in the 60's Artist: Leroy Grannis - 17944
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