Warren Bolster
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Warren Edward Bolster (June 11, 1947 in
He was responsible for reviving
Biography
His father was a U.S. foreign service officer and travelled extensively as a
Bolster had been interested in
In 1967, he moved to
By 1970, Bolster had migrated to San Diego and made skateboards out of old water skis to ensure there was "a surfboard-like alternative for the few days lacking surf," he later recalled.
In 1972, he started to be published in and became an associate editor at
In 1976, with the advent of the urethane wheel revolution in skateboarding, which provided greater traction and speed, Bolster had six months to get Skateboarder Magazine running again. As an associate editor, he teamed up with Kurt Ledterman, the other associate editor at Surfer Magazine. Secretary Chris Maxwell (nicknamed Max Criswell by Kurt) made the final member of a trio that would become the re-creators of Skateboarder Magazine.
Photographically, Bolster was among the first to use fish-eye lenses, motor-drive sequences and strobes while documenting California's skateboarding culture. For example, Ty Page's multi-faceted, rapid-fire technique and footwork were nothing short of incredible. After trying many times to photograph his footwork, Bolster was forced to purchase a new $3,000 high-speed camera to catch him on film to publish in the August and September 1977 issues of Skateboarder Magazine. Superstar professional skateboarder Tony Hawk said the magazine was the only one worth reading at the time. "The pictures were always dreamy and left me full of disbelief…. If it weren't for SkateBoarder, I would have never realized what was really possible on my four-wheeled plank," Hawk said in the book The Legacy of Warren Bolster: Master of Skateboard Photography.
Bolster remained a staff photographer for Surfer Magazine until 1992.
He moved to Hawaii in 1978, where he established himself as an accomplished and widely published
As a free-lance photographer, Bolster often struggled financially between assignments. He was known for putting himself dangerously close to the action he was photographing, often colliding with his subjects or their speeding platforms. He had endured at least a dozen surgeries and many broken bones participating in and documenting surfing activities. As a result, Bolster battled chronic pain and addiction to a painkiller.
"I almost destroyed myself to give a larger life to the sport," he wrote in The Legacy of Warren Bolster: Master of Skateboard Photography, a 2004 book.
He also suffered from long bouts of depression. Nonetheless, despite his health issues, Bolster remained on the cutting edge of surf photography.
Nine days before his death, Bolster was injured when his car was rear-ended in a serious collision. He died at the age of 59 on September 6, 2006, of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Stacy Peralta, a filmmaker, featured Bolster's work in Riding Giants (2004) and Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001).
Bolster's sister, Janet Barnes Tramonte, was the administrative assistant to Chief Justice of the United States William Rehnquist for many years.
References
Further reading
- Gesmer, Daniel (2004) The Legacy of Warren Bolster: Master of Skateboard Photography
- Marcus, Ben (2006) The Surf World Loses a Legend: Warren Bolster - 1947-2006 obituary