Black and White Snapshot

When I look at images of myself from the past, I often have one of those ‘The Person Formerly Known as Bob’ moments. This photograph is one of those images. I was 16, and surfing pretty much every day, hence the 12 pack abs. The board is what we now call a ‘long board’ although at that time, it was just a ‘board’. The scrawled signature is by the author of the photo, none other than one Mr. Leroy Grannis. His day job was in aerospace, but his passion was photography and he became the first person to ascend to the heights of surf photography before it was even a genre. He came to the beach, shot for a few hours, and then returned the next day or next weekend with proof sheets, from which we would choose the image(s) we wanted. Leroy would retreat to his garage darkroom, and reappeared with the prints. I’m pretty sure I paid $1 for this one. He was not in it for the do-re-me, just wanted to practice his craft and give his surfer subjects the thrill of seeing themselves in action. He autographed this for me right before his passing, while he was attending a gallery opening of his revered work. Leroy was in a wheelchair, and scribbled his name with a felt tip pen, a bit higher in the photo than I would have preferred, but this was Leroy, so I didn’t say a thing. When I asked him if he remembered shooting the image he gestured me closer as as I leaned in, he whispered in a hoarse, raspy, I won’t be here much longer voice: “Keep surfing”. I told him that I had become a professional photographer and her gave me a thumbs up. It was the last time I saw him. Come to think of it, Leroy was my first exposure (had to use that) to photography as a passionate pursuit. Thanks my friend. I hope your darkroom in the sky is crankin’.