13 years ago by
I was strolling around with Nicole and Delphine at the Art in the Streets fair – which I would definitely have told you to go if it hadn’t already ended – and I suddenly gasped when I saw these photos.
I could never be as brave as Erin Wasson – I’ve never skateboarded – that stuff is scary!!! – but I spent the ages of 14 through 17 on the side of a skate park or watching my friends literally wreck the street furniture. Not that we’d ever say something like “street furniture,” unless we were making fun or something. At the same time, I gotta say, back then we literally spoke only in onomatopoeias.
Yeah, so we weren’t the sharpest tools in the shed. The guys only thought about doing ollies and smoking joints and the girls only thought about dating the guys, just to give you a taste of the atmosphere.
That said, back then, I met the best friend of my life, Anne. One of our bright minded friends had publicly compared our breast sizes (just so you know the depth of our conversations) the first time we met, and so we ended up fighting about it (no seriously, you really have to be dumb – or be 14 – to play at the stupid games of boys) for an hour, until we were just cracking up and becoming the best friends in the world.
But you have to understand us.
The skaters were so beautiful. And so cool!
Well, okay, hot only when they were on their boards, actually.
When they weren’t rolling at high-speeds, you could had the time to realize that their voices where still squeaky and they were as pimply as every teenager.
But that’s why I gasped when I saw these photos. Skateboarding, it’s so beautiful. And in the photos, the light, the hardness of the asphalt and the fluidity of the movements (captured by Hugh Holland in California in the 70s) sent me far off daydreaming.
What’s nice is that today, you don’t need to be a groupie anymore. Take a look at the photos, and I promise you, THAT’S ENOUGH. Aren’t I right, Anne?
—–
These photos are put together in a book edited by Steve Crist called Locals Only. It’s super cool. Big hugs!
Translation : Tim Sullivan
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Je me disai bien que ce style littéraire n’avais pas des fondements très accadémiques…
I saw the image of the boy & the two girls in bikinis a while back and was instantly captivated. It’s cool to know there is a skate culture in Europe, and that it is so similar to ours in the US. I never went for the skater boys though, haha.
Cool ; ah et quand je pense jeunesse je pense à ta petite soeur , elle en fait elle du skate , moi j’ai fait du surf un jour et je n’ai qu’une hâte recommencer , et le skate aussi j’aimerai essayer , j’en ferai avec le look de Frah Focet :) trop la classe dans les drôles de dames :) bisou <3
Ah, I used to have secret crushes on the skaters in my class in the late 80’s. Remember “Gleaming the Cube?”
xo, Anna of Green Gable
The pictures are beautiful. I think most of us liked skating, I sure tried it a bit when I was a teenager, this post sure brings back memories, great memories.
Lovely post.
Trop vrai ce que tu dis !!!
As-tu vu le film Lord of Dogtown ? ça raconte l’histoire du skate en Californie. J’ai adoré ce film…
I was never coordinated enough to skateboard, and also loved watching the boys in my building (I grew up in apartments in Brazil) skateboard…these photos bring back such memories!
Hey, thought you might like to have a look at this new beautiful magazine (created by Nathalie, from your ‘home town’ – Paris) that I have written for: http://www.peutetremagazine.com
xx
CC
Myriam : Non mais Scott vient juste de ma dire qu’il faut absolument que je le voie. Ce week-end alors !!! Merci!
Sonia : :-D
Anna : What’s “gleaming the cube” ?
Sihem : Malheureusement personne ne fait de skate dans ma famille – mais je fais du snowboard , et je vais prendre des leçons de surf cette semaine !
Excellent, j’adore regarder le skate et les skateurs, euhhh, que dis-je … j’adorai !!
Pour ma part, c’était à l’époque du lycée qu’on était tous habillés en skateurs et skateuses, mais tout comme toi, je n’ai jamais tenté l’expérience, je préférais laisser mes copains de l’époque le faire et baver devant eux lol
Bizz
love action photos:)
http://shu84.blogspot.com/
Garance Garance Garance! Je pourrais te lire pendant des heures sans jamais me fatiguer… ton style est si moderne, si joliement (ca se dit?) ironique par moment, si parfait!!! ah oui les fotos sont belles aussi… LOL
Une lectrice qui t’admire,
Tamara, du Liban
the book is on my list!
Qu’est-ce qu’ils sont beaux ces gamins! On dirait mon fils de 9 ans qui fait du skate (à un niveau débutant!), blond, les cheveux longs… Les photos sont superbes, merci Garance!
j’aime vraiment beaucoup la première photo. Elle est magnifique
There is definitely something about sk8ter boys.. Garance you are not alone in that! I just love that opening shot… he’s so expressive in his movement.. it’s like sport meets art.
Breath taking! I was captivated by the dreamy quality of the shots. I don’t feel the action. Instead they transport me to the place, the warmth, the sounds, the feelings…
i own that book and its amazing.
california in the 70s was the place to be.
OMG I had the same skater love experience when I was hmmm 13? all girls must love skaters at some point in their lives…KOOL!
It is an amazing photo. He makes it look so effortless. I was never enough of a risk taker to really get the hang of skate boarding. But I love to watch it.
– Meredith
http://www.findingsoulbalance.blogspot.com
yeahhhhh je viens tout juste de recevoir le boook !
Mon dieu, ça me ramène une grosse dizaine d’années en arrière ce post!
Je ne peux que te dire que tu as eu raison de ne pas essayer.
J’ai dû monter quelques fois sur un sk8, à chaque fois c’était la bonne idée de fin de soirée, légèrement éméchée, un peu enfumée, ça me paraissait toujours être une idée GENIAL!
A chaque fois des chuttes mémorables….
Je me cantonne au snowboard.
Les clichés sont magnifiques.
A+
Oui ben idem! trop peureux pour me mettre au skate, même si c’est pas l’envie qui m’en manque! => http://fut-il.com/il-porte/509174.html
j’adore la prise de vue avec le public en 1er plan flouté et les tableaux!!
En ce moment pas vraiment le temps de commenter tes posts mais je les suis avec toujours autant d’assiduité ;) … T’as l’air d’avoir passé un super moment à LA, et on le sent à travers tes derniers posts, en tout cas les photos de Hugh Holland sont géniales, et retransmet effectivement tout un univers méga cool.
Et je te rassure Garance, je crois qu’on était toutes pas très malignes à 14 ans, héhé!
Bises!
I loooove these pics, it seems to be back in 70s like the film Lords of Dogtown? Have you seen it, the images are great with a retro feel…
Love from Spain! ^^
Garance, I would never have seen these if you hadn’t posted them.
Merci beaucoup!
La californie des années 70, ca fait rêver…
I love shooting skateboarders – it’s such a lot of fun. Wish my shots were half as good as yours!
The Styleseer
http://styleseer.blogspot.com
Moi c’est les surfeurs pour lesquels j’ai un (large) faible qui perdure à ce jour. Mais surfeurs et skaters c’est la même famille non? Sauf que les derniers n’ont pas à attendre la Vague…
C’est d’ailleurs sans doute ce qui me fascine avec les surfeurs: ce mélange d’extrême nonchalance dans leur attitude et d’extrême patience et persévérance que nécessite ce sport.
Mais que ce soit surfeurs ou skaters, j’adore la fluidité et la grace du mouvement…
Et je te recommande chaudement Lords of Dogtown ne serait-ce que pour apprécier l’utilisation du “mobilier domestique” (i.e. une piscine) par temps de canicule :-)
I love skaters ! I like to spend my afternoons with my brothers at a really cool skatepark ! Check out : http://nothinlasts.blogspot.com/
If you haven’t seen it already, then you need to watch the movie “Dogtown & Z-Boys” which is a beautiful documentary on the 70’s skate culture in California.
I loved the skate photographs too! The movement, and the muted 70s colors…so beautiful. I also liked Dash Snow’s photographs, thought they were amazing.
I love these photos! I just had a chance to preview some and they’re very vivid action shots – very cool!
Ashley
The I on Fashion
http://www.theionfashion.com
Garance, I felt inspired, and I really was in need of inspiration today. Thanks.
planchedetendance.blogspot.com
I never did skateboard, but it must be very fun !! The photo is cool !!!
Héhé !! toujours amusants les souvenirs d’adolescence !!
En plus je crois savoir de quel spot de skate tu parles… ;)
Skate boarding and surfing… something I’m also frightened of, but love watching (and the bleached hair… [sigh])
This is even before my time but….its filling me with nostalgia.
Makes me think of the beautiful footage put to some beautiful words by aussie band youth group…have a look for it…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQi8wEHMm5Y
Elles sont superbes ces photos!! Oui l’ambiance skateur ca me connait! Jolie souvenir pour ma part!!^^
http://misslittlecm.blogspot.com/
Cette photo est géniale! Sympa cette petite histoire :P
Bisous Bisous
http://lauralexo.blogspot.com
Hey Garance,
Je voulais savoir pour les nulle en anglais comme moi qui voudrais s’acheter un vernie Hipp+RGB c’est quoi le plus simple et le plus françisé?
Merci beaucoup. Bisous
Such beautiful pictures! They actually remind me of a skater movie, “Lords of Dogtown”. I recommend it if you haven’t seen it, it’s very good and describes a similar atmosphere you wrote about in this.
FINALLY!!!!!! someone who feels the same way as me about skaters. I’m 17. I’m still totally in love with every one of them. A boy with skate is sexy, no matter how ugly is he be without it.
Hehe I still remember the time when all my friends were skaters , but now they grew up and said goodbye to their skateboards..
Great photos !
http://www.tripsandtreasures.blogspot.com
new outfit post
Great post. I can relate to it very much as I grew up with surfing and skateboarding and worked in the skateboarding industry for the last 13 years. My husband used to be editor of SKATEboarding magazine, still works for a skateboard company and still skates himself. So again, yes, I know exactly what you speak of:) And these photos are great.
J’aime. Non, j’adore.
PS: Votre formation ?
I love this book. I bought it the minute it came out! I am married to an (old school = pool) skater. Skateboarding has always been a part of my life. Hugh’s photos are beautiful and really capture that moment in time so well. I wish skating was still as lovely to look at but a lot of the guys now have such a dirty hard edge to them – a whole other world. Check out Patrick O’Dell’s blog for what skating reality is now: http://www.epiclylaterd.com/contents.html
best, Kim
http://fortyovertwenty.blogspot.com/
California dream !!!! Love this book !!! skaters too !!
http://monsacbyme.com
Oh my goodness! It really was one of the best exhibits I’ve seen in a long time and I was smiling when I saw the first photo in the series at the top. I took a photo of that one in particular as well. I just immediately fell in love with it and then soaked in the others. Love the lines in it that one. So great ;)
Y a jamais eu de bowl à Ajaccio .Et j’avais pas de bouton!
Belle tranche de vie ! J’adore ce genre de photos prises sur le vif :)
Olga
http://ladyandolga.blogspot.com
I loved all the photos in this cluster at Art in the Streets. I wish I had purchased the coffee table book in the gift shop bc now I can’t remember the name of the photographer!
My weakness was the breakdancers! I took a class just to meet them and one of them became my first boyfriend! It was 1985.
http://www.inherentstylela.com/
I remember when my brother got his first skateboard in the 70’s he must have been about 8 or 9, my parents made him wear his hockey helmet (bike helmets weren’t out yet) when he skated, it took the cool right out of it.
absolutely love it. skater boys aren’t exactly my thing but this is a pretty sweet article.
xx, http://wordbyjessie.com/
Amazing! These photos really transport you to somewhere else; watching the fair in person would’ve been even more awesome!
– Nameerah
http://www.gullian.tumblr.com
Ooohhh thank you for sharing this beautiful pics! I love the one with the two girls walking and the boy skating.This photos are really artistic!
They have the sun in their skin, so warm…
Regards from Barcelona Garance! Best wishes.
“All youth is a dream, a form of chemical madness.” – F. Scott Fitzgerald
Coucou ! Cet article est idéal au révéil, tu viens de me mettre de bonne humeur pour ma dernière journée de boulot :D
Sinon je suis issue d’une famille d’amateurs de skate, et au delà des classiques Lords of Dogtown (et le docu Dogtown and Z-boys qui est excellent, surtout si tu aimes le surf) il y a d’excellentes vidéos de skate. Même quand on ne connait pas forcément l’aspect technique, l’esthétique prend le dessus et c’est ça qui importe (Par exemple les vidéos Color Theory par Mystery ou Feed the need par Osiris). A l’inverse l’univers du skate, et moins son esthétique pure, est très bien représenté par Larry Clark dans Wassup rockers.
Enfin voilà, j’suis contente que tu parles skate ! ^^
those are great photos, I must check out the book!
http://cestclassique.blogspot.com
Loved this post. If you wanna see a good film about skateboarding that is reminicent about those teenage years, watch Lords of Dogtown.
Je suis moi-même une grande fan de la culture “skate”. Plus jeune, j’adorai les regarder, mais j’avais tout de même un peu peur pour eux. Et il faut dire que les chutes sont fréqentes. Je suis bien trop peureuse…qu’importe, chacun sa vocation hein :)
http://www.jeunesgenscommehier.com/
so californian style! we can listen to Red Hot Chilli Peppers!
Tes articles sont géniaux! Vraiment inlassable!
xxx
http://ln-ishere.blogspot.com
Aloha Garance, love your stories and great eye.
wondered if you knew that “Locals Only” is a surf clothing brand originally started in hawaii in mid 80’s. Ca. pretty much adopts anything hawaii surf related, and then it melds into skate as well there.
it referenced sharing waves (or not) with outsiders. There’s definitely a pecking order on the water. Locals first and sometimes only ;0. Ca. is a thousand times more tough with that water mentalliy. there’s much more to it than this little bit, so i’ll save the rest of the story for when you and Scott come to Kauai…and you finally get to drink in more palm trees than you can imagine, and take those long awaited surf lessons. Give it a few lessons, and these guys will get you up! and then you will begin to have a better understanding of the hawaiian “locals Only”…thing and how it shows up in everything…surf, food, fashion, style, language…it’s a good thing!
Aloha Nui Loha and mahalo,
A
J’aime toujours autant tes articles!
http://crispydust.blogspot.com/
Ah,ah, d’abord les converses, ensuite le skate avec des photos Old school, c’est la Board-Attitude ça !! Bienvenue Garance dans ce monde merveilleux…
http://www.bassinarcachon.org/boardattitude/
My son has been a skateboarder since he was young. He’s now 27 years old with a wife and 3 children and a successful business owner. Imagine my surprise when I was alerted to a video of him on YouTube skateboarding down a steep highway through the hills in New Mexico with traffic zooming past him! I think his wife was not happy with the escapade!
j’avais deja vu cette photo ! impressionant
http://jgcreations.over-blog.com
ces photos sont superbes, des captures d’instants uniques comme ca, j’adore
quel mémoire grâce à une photo…
http://www.younglington.blogspot.com
il faut que tu regardes LORDS OF DOGTOWN et aussi le Z-BOYS documentary!!
Les photos sont très belles, ça donne vraiment envie d’y être! Lords of Dogtown est en effet très bien (mais bon, Kathryn Bigelow, c’est souvent bien, sauf que ce film-là ne vieillit pas aussi mal que les autres), il y a aussi Wassup rockers? de Larry Clark à voir, sur un bande d’ados skaters latinos à LA, à ne pas rater (Mais bon, Larry Clark, hein, c’est souvent bien aussi).
Love the story!
-Grace
http://www.theafeminada.com
Fantastic book!! It really makes you want to lay out and use baby oil in stead of SPF 5 million. Maybe even squirt some lemon juice in your hair for highlights. I bought it about a year ago from the indi bookshop I work at in Laguna Beach CA. The oversized format makes it even more fun and all the photos are great.
Girls love skaters! Well, as for me, I really do.
Skateboarding is a beautiful sport,too.
Lovely post, it was easy to get in the atmosphere.
Ahahaha mais tellement !! Les skateurs c’est tellement les plus beaux du monde ! Et tout ce qu’on faisait pas pour attirer leurs regards.. Comme porter des baggy par exemple.. Chuuuuut !
http://lesetatsdenina.blogspot.com
Very cool photos! I’m with you on this, I would never dare to skate either..
Wonderful and stunning blog!
J’aurais adoré skater pour impressioner les skateurs quand j’avais 13, 14 ans. Maintenant j’adorerais, mais juste pour moi. (Ou pour me la jouer à la Erin Wasson, j’avoue)
Hi hi Erin Wasson sur une planche…Wow !
Ton article me rappelle qu’ado je me suis acharnée à apprendre le skate pour les beaux yeux d’un garçon. Ca n’a pas vraiment marché hi hi ! Mais je continue de penser que c’est trop classe une fille qui fait du skate tout en restant féminine :)
There’s a really great documentary about skating in the 70’s in California – Dogtown and Z-Boyz. Stacy Peralta made it and it’s just as romantic looking as the pictures, but in motion!
those photographs are so exquisite, i love the arcs of their bodies, the balance, the control….
thanks for sharing the personal anecdote too, i love hearing your stories!
http://dallianceswithsuitsandskirts.blogspot.com/
le SKATE! toute une page de notre vie!
d’ailleurs sur cette photo, on dirait moi a 14ans! sans t-shirt, bien sur, inutile…
d’ailleurs, encore, je t’avoue que la semaine dernière , je promenais les enfants ( et oui, maintenant on est plus des gosses, mais on A des gosses!) sur la fameuse place du Diamant! quand tout a coup un Skate vient taper ma jambe… le jeune ado boutonneux se précipite pour récupérer son skate et là, je lui dis :” attend,j’te montre 2,3 figures! je penses que c’est a ce moment que j’ai buggué!! j’ai commencé a faire des ollies flip, des sauts à 360° et des vitesses de pointe!! le jeune était éberlué et moi… j’ai ressenti un sentiment de libérté !! bon … tout c’est écroulé quand j’ai levé la tête et que j’ai croisé les regards médusés des passants! a la rise, comme on dit chez nous!
i miss you ma meilleure amie de la vie!
love
love this book. just saw it as the Art in the Streets exhibit in LA…lovely.
http://bywayofney.blogspot.com/
These photos exemplify persistence and grace simultaneously. Luv, luv, luv!
You might like that… http://vimeo.com/15378651
Ça ferait peut-être taire cet “ami” ;)
Hi Garance!
Couldn’t agree with you more!
I saw a short film about skating girls on the “Tomboy Style” blog:
http://tomboystyle.blogspot.com/2011/07/scene-carving-mountains-of-madrid.html
That was absolutely amazing!!
(and the Tomboy blog itself is very cool too!)
je crois qu’ils sont à nouveau à la mode, mais alors quelle taille font!!presque on peut s’alonger :)))….ce garçon, ouauu :))). Merci pour la photo et le livre :) !