Grant Brittain sent me a text last week sharing some photos he and a few others shot at Prince Park in Oceanside, California, paying tribute to Jamie Thomas' classic Transworld cover from our September 2000 issue. His friend Zach Cordner does a class in the Oceanside High School Photo Department on Tuesdays and this was one of their assignments.
The original cover is definitely a memorable cover in more ways than one—if not for the actual trick or skater (even though we are talking about Jamie Thomas in his golden years) but also the exaggerated media overload on the stair set, which was a relatable notion to all professional and amateur skateboarders at the time, along with an interesting eye-opener for the TWS audience and subscribers. Our prized pastime can also be a pretty hairy, nerve-racking experience at times as well. Especially when all eyes are on you. But that's what separates the pros from the Joes, right? However you dissect it, it's one of those covers that will be talked about for years and it was something that Grant and the powers that be at Transworld in those years were very good at. Anyone out there on the original cover? Comment below if you can Where's Waldo some of your old friends from the early 2000's.
Take a look at some of the tribute photos below along with a scanned version of the cover AND the original file from Grant's archive. Maybe one day we'll get Grant and Jamie on camera to talk about this day? Wink... wink...
