LOCALS ONLY – HUGH HOLLAND
2010-12-06Locals only – California Skateboarding: 1975 – 1978 is a new book of color photographs by Hugh Holland that capture the Los Angeles skateboard revolution during the mid-Seventies from an insider’s perspective. Unlike most photographers capturing the craze, Holland’s photographs were never about the sport.
Holland shot with old color negative movie film, rendering his images in warm, soft tones that were in complete contrast to the sharp, crisp chromes that the majority of skate photographers were using at the time. Beyond the bodies in motion, Holland captures beautifully intimate portraits of the young boys sitting under the trees waiting their turn, resting by the chain link fence at Kenter or in peaceful contemplation after a long day of riding. Holland primarily shot his subjects in the late afternoon, bathing his models and settings with an effervescent, glistening quality. They are, in essence, photographs of a generation of boys discovering their identity amidst the backdrop of cultural phenomena that shaped a generation.
