Ed Templeton: professional skateboarder turned photographer

Photographer and professional skateboarder Ed Templeton captures images of skateboarding life. In this portrait, he gives us a clearer picture of his views on life, photography, Leicas, and the nature of his creative quest.

Templeton is perhaps best known as a professional skateboarder and for founding the skateboard company, Toy Machine. But it was his years spent as a pro-skater that introduced him to the world of photography.

As a pro, much of his job was being photographed for skate magazines. So he was constantly around photographers who gradually began to fascinate him.

His photography is often focussed on the skateboarding lifestyle - rather than skateboarding itself. But his style progressed further while on a tour in Paris. "I started taking photos of the 'lifestyle', but then logic took over. I walked down the street and saw all this cool stuff I wanted to photograph. If you?re geared like that then you start shooting everything. "

He still shoots on film exclusively. "I have a little pocket digicam that I carry around and use for blogs and fun stuff," says Templeton, "but my serious shooting has always been film - no digital stuff at all. I'm not anti-digital; I just prefer film. I can afford it and, in my opinion, the quality can't be matched."

Read more on Ed Templeton on the Leica Camera Blog.