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.
In 1931 Grannis started kneeboarding on a piece of pine wood that he sculpted into a water craft. Soon after, Grannis started borrowing stand up surfboards from friends in Hermosa, and eventually became a member of the Palos Verdes Surf Club
Balancing the surf lifestyle with family and work was a challenge for Grannis. He attended UCLA during the Depression, but eventually had to drop out due to lack of money. He then took on jobs as a carpenter, junkyard de-tinner and a stint at standard oil.
Grannis later found himself a job with Pacific Bell through some surfer friends of his that worked there. With a consistent job, he was able to develop his photography skills, which would eventually lead to a new career.
LeRoy has his first taste of success with photos being published in Doc Ball's book California Surfriders. He was becoming more involved with the surfing coming, surfing in contests in his free time and assisting the United States Surfing Association.
Grannis eventually had too much on his plate with surfing, work and family life and ended up with an ulcer. His doctor recommended that he take some time off from his job to recover. During his time off, Grannis started getting more serious with his photography practice. As his skills improved he started having some of his work published in magazines like 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 spent 10 years photographing the world's best surfers in Hawaii and California. He later became the photo editor of Surfing Illustrated and International Surfing which he help start.
LeRoy was elected to the International Surfing Hall of Fame and the best photographer in 1966. He was also awarded a lifetime achievement award in 2002. He was also the the subject of a Surfer's Journal article 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: Breaktime, 1964 Artist: Leroy Grannis - 15437
In 1931 Grannis started kneeboarding on a piece of pine wood that he sculpted into a water craft. Soon after, Grannis started borrowing stand up surfboards from friends in Hermosa, and eventually became a member of the Palos Verdes Surf Club
Balancing the surf lifestyle with family and work was a challenge for Grannis. He attended UCLA during the Depression, but eventually had to drop out due to lack of money. He then took on jobs as a carpenter, junkyard de-tinner and a stint at standard oil.
Grannis later found himself a job with Pacific Bell through some surfer friends of his that worked there. With a consistent job, he was able to develop his photography skills, which would eventually lead to a new career.
LeRoy has his first taste of success with photos being published in Doc Ball's book California Surfriders. He was becoming more involved with the surfing coming, surfing in contests in his free time and assisting the United States Surfing Association.
Grannis eventually had too much on his plate with surfing, work and family life and ended up with an ulcer. His doctor recommended that he take some time off from his job to recover. During his time off, Grannis started getting more serious with his photography practice. As his skills improved he started having some of his work published in magazines like 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 spent 10 years photographing the world's best surfers in Hawaii and California. He later became the photo editor of Surfing Illustrated and International Surfing which he help start.
LeRoy was elected to the International Surfing Hall of Fame and the best photographer in 1966. He was also awarded a lifetime achievement award in 2002. He was also the the subject of a Surfer's Journal article 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: Breaktime, 1964 Artist: Leroy Grannis - 15437
