At the time of shooting this picture I had travelled to America to decide if I wanted to work full time for Transworld Skateboarding Magazine.

Grant Brittain and Dave Swift had offered me a chance to go and work in the darkroom at the magazines offices in Oceanside to start me off.

I had some skill in creating the black and white prints at the time. A staple for the publishing world at the time.

While I was staying with Grant for a few days up in San Diego County I went with him to go and meet Kien in the evening after a day in the office. Kien had said to Grant he wanted to kickflip a fire hydrant and when Kien said he wants to do something people listened.

I was along for the ride on this really but I had my camera and some film. Grant shot a sequence from the side that was used in TWS and my choice of angle here is partially trying to keep out of Grants way.

It didn’t matter that I got this shot at all. I was there as a ‘second shooter’ really but it’s ended up being one of my favourite pictures.

Somehow I managed to get low enough to put Kien above the building in the background. The flip is caught totally lined up with the flags and the Kien’s plait also follows the the lines of the flags and the buildings.