Ed Templeton

Biography

Ed Templeton was born in Orange County, a sprawling suburb of Los Angeles. He became interested in skateboarding when he was in junior high school and devoted all his time to it. Templeton’s interest in fine art began as a teen with shopping mall books about canonical painters such as Picasso, Dali, but it was his later discovery of Egon Schiele that would have a profound effect on him. Templeton eventually became a professional skateboarder, which allowed him opportunities to tour Europe. While there, he spent every free moment absorbing its galleries and art museums. Though he is primarily known for his black-and-white photographs of the people and street life of Huntington Beach, Calif., his work also includes a series of intimate portraits of his wife Deanna, (also an accomplished photographer) and an understated suite of paintings focused on suburbia. Ed Templeton was interviewed in Huntington Beach, CA on June 13, 2005.