Warren Bolster

Warren Edward Bolster was arguably the most influential skateboard photographer during the mid-70's rebirth of skateboarding. He was responsible for creating Skateboarder Magazine, known as 'the bible' of skate magazines, and set the standard for all other magazines since.

Born in Arlington, Virginia . His father, Edward, was a foreign service officer, and traveled extensively as a diplomat. His father and his mother, Elizabeth, settled in Sydney, Australia in 1963. It was here that he learned to Surfboard and skateboard for the first time in 1965.

Warren had been interested in cameras and photography from an early age, which was nurtured by his parent's regular slide-shows of family holidays and the many hand-down cameras they gave to Warren. In 1972 he started to be published and became Associate Editor at Surf Magazine. During his time at Surf Magazine, he was given the task to resurrect Skateboarder Magazine by Steve Pezman, at the time Publisher and Editor of Surf. Skateboard Magazine had had a brief run during the early 60's, publishing quarterly. When the skate craze subsided the magazine was dropped due to falling sales.

In 1973, Warren had six months to get Skateboard Magazine running again. He teamed up with Curt Ledterman, the other Associate Editor at Surf Magazine. Secretary Chris Maxwell (Nicknames Max Criswell by Curt) made the final member of a trio that would become Skateoboard Magazine.

References

Gesmer, Daniel (2004) The Legacy of Warren Bolster: Master of Skateboard Photography