Jim Goodrich Interview
MARTY GRIMES
OXNARD SKATEPARK DECEMBER 1977 © JIM GOODRICH
I could get was in the line of fire . I would get at angles where the skater was coming at me , and of course , that carried risk . Fortunately , I was sponsored by Canon in those days . I think they were sorry that they ever sponsored me because I was at their headquarters every couple months getting a lens or camera body replaced . But I got some good shots and a few scars on my head as a result .
Can you expand on your shooting technique and philosophy ?
It was funny because I didn ’ t consciously think about it at the time . It was more instinctual , and I think it made a difference that I started as a skater . If I had just come in as I photographer , I wouldn ’ t have had that same sense of what it is to skate . One of the fans paid me the best compliment anyone has ever given me . He said , “ You know , your photos make me want to go out and skate .” I thought , “ How can you capture something better than to stimulate someone emotionally or mentally , to want to participate in what you ’ ve taken a picture of ?”
The magazine supplied us with the film , Kodachrome 64 slide film , but we had to pay for the processing out of sheer economics . We had to know the shot we were going to take before we took it . At least , that ’ s the way I was operating . I ’ ve always been a person who doesn ’ t like to waste anything . Generally , when I went to a location to shoot , the first thing I would do it sit down and watch the skaters and create the shots in my mind . I knew exactly where I wanted to go , so I had most of the shots in mind before I would take the picture .
I also pioneered some of the early lighting . I
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