Jim Goodrich Interview was like a portable studio and experimenting with slow shutter speeds , blur effects and colored strobes . Most of the skaters didn ’ t appreciate it because we couldn ’ t look in the back of the camera and see it . We had to wait a week until the film came back from the lab . It was really challenging because I was teaching myself all this stuff and when you can ’ t view your experimentation , you just have to learn what your camera can do with shutter speeds and lighting .
Did you talk to the skaters , so you knew what they were going to do at the events ?
Oh yeah , all the time . Partly because these guys were my friends , and they would just relate something to me so I could get the shot . Other guys with bigger egos were doing it just to get in the magazine . So people were kissing my ass and there was a mix of friendship and people using me , but I was aware of that and ok with it . I wanted to get the best shots so the photos ended up in the magazine , but it really had to do with making a living more than ego . It was a matter of pride , getting the best shot possible .
I ’ m not saying that the trick was made in every photo of mine that was ever published , but I never tried to get a shot of something a skater couldn ’ t pull . Every photo that was published of mine was of a trick the guy could do .
Did you have any particular skaters you really liked shooting ?
Chris Miller was so incredibly fluid and stylish , but could make the most difficult tricks look easy . Mark Gonzales was totally original and unconventional . You never knew what he was going to do and was always exciting to shoot . Neil Blender was another one who was just totally original and a great skater . Tony Alva was always fun to shoot because he was stylish but always agro and bionic at the same time .
Style , to me is everything . You have some skaters out there who just analyze skateboarding to death and follow formula to pull off a trick , but there ’ s no sense of passion or excitement in their skating . It ’ s not very often that I see a skater now and just go “ Wow !” It might be as low as 30-40 % of the skaters I see firsthand that have great and unique style . That ’ s just a product of this generation . There just isn ’ t as much style as there used to be .
BERT LAMAR OASIS SKATE PARK
1979 © JIM GOODRICH
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