Craig R. Stecyk III (born 1950) is an American artist, writer, photojournalist, and filmmaker who has documented and influenced the surf,

skate Skate or Skates may refer to: Fish *Skate (fish), several genera of fish belonging to the family Rajidae * Pygmy skates, several genera of fish belonging to the family Gurgesiellidae * Smooth skates or leg skates, several genera of fish belongin ...

, and

snowboarding Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympi ...

cultures.

Biography

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

native, Stecyk is known for his photographs of the 1970s and '80s, and for documenting surfing and skateboarding culture, including articles for ''Skateboarder Magazine'' in the mid-1970s describing the innovative developments of the

Z-Boys The Zephyr Competition Team (or Z-Boys) were a group of American skateboarders in the mid-1970s from Santa Monica and Venice, California. Originally consisting of 12 members, the Z-boys were originally sponsored by the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zeph ...

skateboarding team. In 1972, Jeff Ho,

Skip Engblom Skip Engblom (born January 4, 1948) is an American entrepreneur and one of the co-founders of the Jeff Ho Surfboards and Zephyr Productions Surf Shop in Santa Monica, California. He also helped to create the Zephyr Surf Team and the Zephyr Competi ...

, and Stecyk opened a surf shop called Jeff Ho and Zephyr Surfboard Productions in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

. Stecyk co-wrote the 2001 award-winning documentary ''

Dogtown and Z-Boys ''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' is a 2001 documentary film produced by Agi Orsi and directed by Stacy Peralta. The documentary explores the pioneering of the Zephyr skateboard team in the 1970s (of which Peralta was a member) and the evolving sport of ...

'' with

Stacy Peralta Stacy Douglas Peralta (born October 15, 1957) is an American film director and entrepreneur. He was previously a professional skateboarder and surfer with the Zephyr Competition Team, also known as the Z-Boys, from Venice, California. Early li ...

Pablo Schreiber Pablo Tell Schreiber (born April 26, 1978) is a Canadian-American actor. He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on ''The Wire'' (2003), William Lewis on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2013–2014), Mad Swe ...

plays Stecyk in the 2005 film ''

Lords of Dogtown ''Lords of Dogtown'' is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke and written by Stacy Peralta. The film follows a group of young skateboarders in Santa Monica, California during the 70s. This is the first (and so fa ...

''. He co-wrote the book ''Dogtown and Z-Boys'' with

Glen E. Friedman Glen Ellis Friedman (born March 3, 1962) is an American photographer and artist. He became known for his activities within rebellious skateboarding and music cultures. Photographing artists Fugazi, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Circle Jerks, Minor ...

, published in 2019.

Publications

* ''Dogtown – The Legend of the Z-Boys'', C.R. Stecyk III &

, Burning Flags Press, 2000,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stecyk, C.R. III American artists American non-fiction writers Writers from Santa Monica, California Place of birth missing (living people) American skateboarders Skate photographers 1950 births Living people Artist skateboarders