Day 73 of 365: a year in songs and photos
Song: Suicidal Tendencies, Go Skate
These photos were kind of a breakthrough for me.
I was having one of those days and needed to get out of the house. So I took my camera and drove around a bit, not sure where I was headed. I came upon these kids in front of a local library. And I did something I never did. I got out of the car, approached them and asked if they minded if I shot some photos. Anyone who knows me knows what a big deal this is for me.
The kids didn’t mind. There was one idiot who kept taking his pants down and mooning me as he skated, but I chose to just ignore him. Yea, I was 16 once. I know it’s hard to resist being a jackass to grownups at that age.
I really enjoyed taking these photos, as one of my photographic heroes is Glen E. Friedman, who made his name taking skateboarding photos back in the 70’s. I kind of aged the photo to give it a 70’s feel. (I wrote a bit about Glen and skateboarding here)
I know these kids hang out there all the time, so maybe I’ll go back when they are doing more than just simple stuff. Unless that’s all they got….
I’m sure the kids with the cams were just waiting for someone to break a few bones or smash their face on the ground so they can get on Scarred.
That’s a good shot – not easy to do when a person is jumping and a board is flipping.
Picture taking is pretty normal for skaters – I have a album full of pics of me and my friend defying gravity on home-made obstacles and schools (half a lifetime and a hundred pounds ago…)