Biography
Friedman's childhood was largely spent skateboarding in the West Los Angeles schoolyards of the area called "Dogtown". His friends were beginning to be featured in magazines, but he felt the images failed to capture skating's true essence. Though still in junior high school, he thought he could do better.
In the fall of 1976, Friedman discovered an empty pool, and corralled a few friends into riding it so he could take pictures. He showed the results to a freelance SkateBoarder writer he met on the local schoolyard banks, who put the eighth-grader in touch with the editor. They published the first photos Glen submitted as a full-page subscription ad. He soon after became their youngest staff member.
Several years later Friedman began to shoot the punk shows he was attending. Punks such as Black Flag and others received some of their first national and international media documentation through Friedman's work.
Learning a strong work ethic from the self-promoters in Black Flag, Friedman started working with the younger brother of an old DogTown friends' band, got them a record deal, managed the band, and produced their first record. This band was Suicidal Tendencies, and that album became the largest selling punk album of the 1980s.
By the mid eighties Friedman was working with Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons and their newly formed Def Jam Records, promoting groups such as Run-DMC and Public Enemy, continuing his dedication to popularizing rebel youth attitude.
In the nineties to the present day Friedman has concentrated on publishing his books, selling his prints to serious collectors, and promoting those lifestyles that continue to inspire radical youth culture and rebels of all ages.
In recent years, he has collaborated with artist Shepard Fairey, to create limited edition prints of some of his images.
Read more about this topic: Glen E. Friedman
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