Concrete Skateboarding 2011 Photo Annual by Concrete Skateboarding Magazine

Issue 114 2011 Photo Annual free

John Hanlon

Frontside bluntslide

Issue 114 2011 Photo Annual

2011 PHOTO Annual

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2011

Welcome to the seventh special edition Photo Annual Concrete has published in its 20-year history. We took a dual cover approach for the first time – one featuring a rising talent from the West, and the other a living legend from the East. It’s also the first Concrete cover for both of them.

Photo annual

2011 Photo Annual

ISSUE 114 2011 PHOTO ANNUAL FREE

JOHN HANLON

FRONTSIDE BLUNTSLIDE

RICHARD SARRAZIN

FAKIE 5-0 REVERT

ISSUE 114

2011 PHOTO ANNUAL

available in western canada

OFC-w-spine-WEST-5.indd 1

7/22/11 11:54:42 AM

available in eastern canada

OFC-w-spine-EAST-2.indd 1

7/24/11 10:42:27 PM

Langley Or Bust

Yard Moves

cover photo and caption by

Rich Odam

On this particular day I was driving through downtown Vancouver on my way to pick up Sean Lowe, Paul Trep and Cameo Wilson. We didn’t have a definite plan other than wanting to go out and get stuff done. Then my cell rang. It was JOHN HANLON, who was at the Liquor Store rail out in Langley and needed someone to shoot. There were no complaints when I grabbed the guys and broke the news that we were driving an hour away. We met up with John, Magnus Hanson, Jordan Zazula and David-Wayne Stevens out there, and a few tricks went down in a matter of minutes. But once John began trying this FRONTSIDE BLUNTSLIDE, everyone took a seat and watched him handle his biz.

Andrew Szeto

During a road trip two years ago I shot my first skate photo of RICHARD SARRAZIN doing a frontside melon at a pool in Albany, New York. It ended up running as a Beer Run ad for his Pro model at the time, and it was simultaneously my first photo ever published in a mag. We’re still at it now, and the dude is still blasting head-high airs all day long. Ricky is a true east coast legend, and he’s been the best big brother to me and every other kid on four wheels in Ottawa. Here he’s doing a FAKIE 5-0 REVERT over the light and in the deep end of a pool conveniently located in his own yard (see for yourself in “Sarrazin’s Backyard Blast” on p.40). Watch out, dude’s coming in hot!

Visit concreteskateboarding.com to check out John and Richard’s cover footage in the 2011 Photo Annual commercial. 6

Concrete skateboarding

Photograph by: Michael Burnett

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Concrete skateboarding

issue 114 ~ 2011 photo annual

28 34 40 48 62 76 90 12 16 18 22 24 122 124

Both Ends of the Lens: Kevin Lowry in london Both Ends of the Lens: Ian Twa in puerto rico

richard Sarrazinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Backyard Blast

Hasselblad or Bust:

The Skate Photography of

Hendrik Herzmann Silence is Golden:

The Life and Times of

Derek Swaim

Dylan Doubt:

A Photo Retrospective

Exposure

photo Gallery Traditional Truth Delivery Identity ~ Jaime Owens The Five Spot ~ Beagle One-ism The Format Sampler ~ unique cameras Eazy Handle: follow-cam at its finest Identity ~ William Strobeck The Five Spot ~ Mark Whiteley

Scott Decenzo - Crooked Grind to Fakie

Photo: Mike Stanfield

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JS Lapierre - frontside 180 Photo: Brian Caissie

Traditional Delivery In a world filled with digital media and multi-tasking devices that are held by all, the visual truth is heavily documented and sometimes delivered differently than it used to be. It can change the dynamic when you’re gathering around the latest issue of a magazine, pointing at an impressive still and asking: “Did he make it? Do you think it was smooth or sketchy?” So, should the still photo come out first or the clip of the same trick? This is a line increasingly being blurred by all the video content that’s uploaded on a daily basis to nourish embed-code hungry websites, versus the longer timelines it takes to carefully create and publish a magazine. To recap the traditional way of doing things, publishing a still photograph first will spark the interest, intrigue and imagination of the skateboarding public. It provides a reference point. It freezes the details. It raises questions and curiosities. People are left wanting more information, whether it’s a sequence or video clip, to help deliver the total truth about that still image. Photography and video can either compliment each other nicely or cause a lot of headaches in an industry where timing is everything. Consider this scenario: a video comes out showing a trick landed by your favourite skater, then months later the still photo is released in a magazine. Will this photo have as much impact as it could have? 12

Concrete skateboarding

Building up the air of mystery that a still photograph provides is what heightens the senses. It creates a connection and lays the visual groundwork as it always has throughout skateboarding’s history. A still photo helps prolong the excitement of a particular trick and moment, which can otherwise be very short-lived and quickly forgotten in today’s world where instant gratification is fewer clicks or screen taps away than it was the year prior. While looking through this 2011 Concrete Photo Annual, don’t just flip through it. Please take your time with each still image because the contributing skaters and photographers worked hard to bring them to these pages. It’s the traditional starting point of the truth delivery process.

Brian Caissie, photo editor

distributed by Ultimate

TYLER BLEDSOE HURRICANE

SAM MAGUIRE PHOTO.

etnies.com facebook.com/etnies timebombtrading.com facebook.com/timebombtrading

the

BLe dSoe MProISHDoE. ! T BloOd's First

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Identity

Jaime Owens

Favourite camera and lens combo?

Nikon FM2 with a 28mm lens, but my iPhone has been pretty good lately.

Last photographic purchase?

A Greg Hunt print from the A.skate Foundation [askate.org] Benefit Auction in April 2011.

Influential photographers?

Brian Gaberman, Daniel Harold Sturt, Vivian Maier and Richard Avedon.

Biggest inspirations?

My little brother Jason who has Down Syndrome and has been fighting off deadly diseases for the past 10 years. He’s a fighter and true inspiration to me.

Best thing about print publications? I don’t have to use a computer to look at them.

Best memory from a photo shoot?

During the Video Days 20th Anniversary Reunion shoot for Skateboarder, realizing that my childhood was having a wet dream. That whole shoot was a highlight for me.

Best place on earth?

Anywhere with my wife and daughters. 16

Concrete skateboarding

kurina owens

Jaime Owens is not exactly a hick, but he’s definitely a good ol’ Southern boy. After all, he’s from South Carolina. He not only hooked me up with an amazing job at Skateboarder, but continues to send me the most disgusting Internet videos I’ve ever seen. I can say that Jaime is one of the raddest people I’ve ever worked with. At my former job, a trip up the Amazon would have been out of the question, but Jaime is always there to hear my crazy trip ideas and consider them seriously. He continues to keep the people around him inspired and psyched to be involved. If I’m ever bummed or feeling static, once I talk to him for a bit I’m always laughing. This goes for everyone who gets to know him. Not only that, but his wife and kids are amazing and he continues to crush it as a dad as well as on the board. —Jonathan Mehring

Worst habit? Too much coffee.

Best part about your job? Getting paid to skateboard.

Last book you read?

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. I finally got around to it after all these years.

Most prized possession?

My dad’s Silver Star medal for bravery in the Vietnam War.

First skateboard?

Town & Country with Gullwing trucks and Sims street wheels.

Best era in skateboarding?

The late ’80s before all of my best friends quit.

Favourite websites?

decapitateanimals.tumblr.com, mehringphoto.com and huffingtonpost.com.

Future plans? Stay employed.

jaimeowensphoto.com

J O S H

H A R M O N Y

A U S T I N C A I R O C O R Y

K E N N E D Y

D A V I D E D

S T E P H E N S F O S T E R

R E Y E S

T E M P L E T O N

J A M E S

H A R D Y

J U L I A N

D A V I D S O N

K E E G A N K E V I N L E O

L O N G

R O M E R O

N E S T O R

T H E

S A U D E R

“ S P A N K Y ”

J U D K I N S

B A L A N C E

O F

O P P O S I T E S

R V C A . C O M T I M E B O M B T R A D I N G . C O M F A C E B O O K . C O M / T I M E B O M B T R A D I N G

The Five Spot

brian caissie

Beagle One-ism Somehow Beagle finds the patience not many people have. Driving a skatetank full of homies and makin’ sure they eat, skate, film tricks, drink, smoke and get home safe, while still finding time to get his shred on, is mind-blowing to me. He’s been doing this day in and day out for years now, with a constant smile on his face. For the last three-plus years Beagle’s dedication has been on Shake Junt’s full length video, Chicken Bone Nowison, and he’s the glue to everything you see from Baker, Shake Junt and Deathwish, not to mention he’s the drummer for The Goat. His eye for hi-jinx alone is what I think most people in his profession lack. So put your cups up to the man that brought you classics such as Baker Bootleg, Baker 2G, Baker 3 and Baker Has A Deathwish. Thanks for all the hard work and consistent passion you put into skateboarding, Beagle. The game needs you. —Shane Heyl

Tour Bros

1. Lizard King 2. Bryan Herman 3. Figgy 4. TK 5. Andrew

Video Cameras 1. TRV-900 2. VX-1000 3. VX-2000 4. VX-2100 5. Disposables

Directors

1. James Cameron 2. Mike Judge 3. Steven Spielberg 4. Tim Burton 5. Shane Heyl

Places to be

1. Mario’s Mexican Resturant in Huntington 2. Chili’s 3. Chipotles that serve margaritas 4. Home sweet California 5. Melbourne, Australia

Dream Cars

1. ’96 Cadillac DeVille Concours (my whip) 2. ’96 Chevy SS Impala 3. ’71 Chevy Caprice 4. ’83 Mercury Grand Marquis 5. ’93 Cadillac Limousine (Bill Clinton’s)

Concrete skateboarding

Websites

1. shakejunt.com 2. bakerboysdist.com 3. theskateboardmag.com 4. dontwatchthat.tv (PWBC episodes) 5. youtube.com

Magazines

1. Smooth Girl 2. Lowrider 3. People 4. National Geographic 5. Modern Drummer

Albums

1. Freestyle Kings – Screwed Up Click, 2006 2. Street Gospel – Suga Free, 1997 3. Kuruption! – Kurupt, 1998 4. Da Unbreakables – Three 6 Mafia, 2003 5. Mista Don’t Play – Project Pat, 2001

Things about The Goat

1. Free drinks for us at the shows 2. Orchestrating mosh pits 3. Groovin’ and sharing vibes with the homies 4. Getting to meet and play with OG bands like Bad Brains 5. Atiba plays bass and keyboard while shooting photos of the crowd at the same time

Reasons to be a filmer

1. Every day is a new adventure 2. Getting to travel on companies’ expenses 3. Expressing creativity 4. Bringing monumental skateboarding to TV screens across the world 5. Helping friends achieve their dreams

shakejunt.com

BLACK NUBUCK C H A D M U S K A S I G N ATUR E M ODEL

SUPRAFOOTWEAR.COM

photos: brendan klein

Format Sampler The

words and photos

Ian Beer

intro

Frank Daniello

Having written a piece for our 2007 Photo Annual about the Loreo 3D point-and-shoot “stereo” camera and viewing system, Vancouver’s Ian Beer [ianbeerphoto.blogspot.com] is no stranger to uniqueformat photography. For the past decade he’s collected over fifty cameras – including Pinholes, Polaroids, along with “other weird kinds” – and continues to scour the tangled Interweb on a regular basis. With a taste for all things analog, one of the three cameras he chose to expose here is digital – only because it fills his void of

no longer shooting with Super 8 in the aftermath of Kodak ceasing its Kodachrome mail-in film cartridge program in 2005. As for postproduction, Ian will be the first to say “I don’t really know Photoshop”, so he chooses to get his film cross-processed in order to achieve unique results outside of the desktop-box. “These cameras shoot non-traditional shapes and sizes, and are always sure to draw a ‘what’s that?’ when you pull one out of your bag,” he mentions of the trio below. “Maybe you’ll get a chance to try them for yourself.”

/// HORIZON PERFEKT\\\

Often referred to as the “poor man’s Widelux”, the Horizon is a great way to get into swing-lens photography for around $500 or less. These cameras shoot approximately 22 images on a roll of 36 exposures, with each image being almost two-times the width of a standard 35mm image. The viewfinder is fairly accurate, and includes a bubble-level to reduce distortion and keep your horizon intact. The camera has a 28mm lens and provides a 120-degree field-of-view. By combining the moving lens with a slow shutter speed and a moving object, or by back-panning against the swing of the lens, you can stretch and distort your subject. This type of “horizon bending” can add a different look or feel that’s otherwise unachievable with other types of cameras. The Horizon also works on clockwork mechanics, and it’s battery free. There’s no exposure meter, which means you have to either guess, use a light meter, or a digital camera’s readings for reference. Horizon cameras are manufactured by KMZ in Russia, and several models can be found on eBay or through lomography.com. Whether shooting horizontally or vertically, it will always provide you with a different perspective on the world.

lomography.com/horizon/perfekt

rob boyce / backside air

/// DIGITAL HARINEZUMI 1\\\

In a time when 10 megapixel cameras with HD video are the norm, the Digital Harinezumi is a little different. With its two-megapixel stills and lo-fi silent video that imitates Super 8 film, this is a different kind of camera. For one, you don’t see your pictures until after you press the button, but you do get live viewing in video mode. Video on the Harinezumi 1 is captured at an unusual 25 framesper-second at 640x480, and stills ringing in at 1600x1200 or 320x240. Due to the popularity of the first version, the Harinezumi 2 was released, recording sound while offering black-and-white and colour video modes at the same aspect ratio, with a three-megapixel sensor for stills. The Harinezumi 2+++ is the newest version that boasts similar specs and 10 different colour choices, with the bonus of live-view while taking both photos and video. Although there are better, sharper cameras out there, this compact has really gained cult status with its unconventional style. There was even a signature Ed Templeton Harinezumi 2 that was released in 2010 as part of a limited edition artist series. Big in Japan! The first model shown here can be bought through SuperHeadz, or on eBay for about $150.

mikey klinkhamer / method

superheadz.com/digitalharinezumi/

adam cassidy / frontblunt transfer

klinkhamer / pivot fakie

seylynn / north vancouver

hastings / vancouver

/// SPINNER 360˚\\\

Keeping with the spirit of the Holga and other “toy” cameras that Lomography markets and sells, the Spinner is a deceptively high-tech piece of plastic. This camera manages to take 360-degree panoramics on 35mm film without the aid of batteries. It’s an easily accessible version of the elusive Corrales Spinshot 35S, which is impossible to find (there’s only about a thousand in existence). With the Spinner, the lens projects the image onto film that advances as the camera rotates, taking approximately seven pictures on a roll of 36 exposures. The 360-degree spin happens with the traditional pull-and-release cord, or the camera can be hand-turned for a slower exposure known as a “timescan”, which unpredictably bends and stretches your pictures. As for film, 200 or 400 ASA comes highly recommended because it shoots at f8 or f16 at about 1/200th of a second. You’ll have to scan your own negatives or have it done professionally, as traditional photo printing machines can’t make one print from such a long piece of film. The Spinner can be found online through various eBay sellers or through lomography.com for about $150. It may be a film-eater, but it’s super fun and the images are worth it. lomography.com/spinner-360

Concrete skateboarding

EAZY HANDLE Follow-cam At its finest words

Frank Daniello

JASON HERNANDEZ [vimeo.com/jayfilms/videos] is an L.A.-based filmer who knows a thing or two about quality. From 2003 to 2007 he worked alongside Jon Holland on numerous Transworld video projects, including Free Your Mind, Subtleties, First Love, A Time To Shine and Let’s Do This! Since 2008 Nike SB has kept the 31-year-old busy with a multifaceted role: “I’m the filmer, den mother, psychiatrist, friend, taxi driver, shoulder to cry on, and sometimes-TM,” he says of the gig. In a mere 10 months Jason filmed, directed and edited 2009’s Debacle, which was the first high-profile skate-production shot entirely in high-definition. “I had no real love for the VX,” he boldly states about skateboarding’s well-designed, albeit outdated squareformat camera of choice. “I was getting really bored with SD footage.” Armed with two Canon D-SLRs (5D Mark II and 60D), a selection of lenses, a RØDE VideoMic Pro and a steady stream of missions, Jason’s foray into developing specialized peripheral accessories for filming started by approaching his father about building a sensible dolly-track system. After six prototypes, Eazy Dolly was born in 2008 and comes complete with a U.S. patent. JCL Custom Products became the Hernandez family business, with Jason taking part in consultation, design and fielding technical camera-related questions from customers. His father Carlos co-designs, builds, assembles 24

Concrete skateboarding

and boxes everything from his custom metal shop, while his mother Lorraine handles customer service and keeps the business wellorganized. “We’re not in competition with the big companies,” she says. “Our niche is the indie filmer and we know how important it is to have quality equipment that you can count on. We enjoy working with Jason and stand behind our products.” As a true fan of the HD format and the coveted depth-of-field control that comes with using a D-SLR to film, Jason wanted to create a handle that was practical and provided stability. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that SLRs don’t feel like video cameras,” he explains, leading into one the main design motives behind developing JCL’s Eazy Handle in 2010. “Ergonomically it feels more like a video camera body, and it secures in two places,” he adds, referring to the fact that along with the standard bottom-mount system most other D-SLR handles use, Eazy Handle also secures the camera with a hotshoe mount up top that can fully adjust to accommodate different camera body heights. One of the most important features of the handle addresses the odd shapes of D-SLRs. There are two vertical rods at the back of the Eazy Handle that are different sizes in order to compensate for

Daniel Shimizu - nose bonk with Jason Hernandez filming Photo: Aaron Smith

the unbalanced weight distribution of the camera bodies. Left and right thumb-pads at the top of the handle help further balance the loaded unit by applying subtle pressure-manipulation while filming. There are two quarterinch threaded taps underneath the unit for a tripod quick-release plate, and six more taps all around the handle allow the user to securely attach peripherals like a microphone, light and external LCD screen. As for weight, the handle itself is three pounds and breaks down to a mere two-and-a-half inches in height for transport. The patent-pending Eazy Handle is made from water-jet cut and machined 6061-grade aluminum. The entire unit is finished with a professional paintpowder coating and it’s fully manufactured in the U.S. “The quality is amazing because my dad is a perfectionist,” Jason mentions. “Everything is checked and re-checked before it goes out.” When asked how durable the handle is during those dreaded follow-film snags, he says: “I’ve gone down with it a few times while filming Justin Brock and Grant Taylor at skateparks. The handle was fine, but I wasn’t [laughs].”

eazyhandle.com

Eazy Handle is available in Canada for $413 (express shipping included) plus customs charges. Learn more about how you can win one of your own on p.116, and also by visiting concreteskateboarding.com

distributed by Ultimate

FIFTEEN YEARS

BLEDSOE

FOURSTAR CELEBRATES 15 YEARS

ANDERSON BROPHY CARROLL GONZALES HOWARD KOSTON MALTO MARIANO O’NEILL PUIG SCHAAF TRUJILLO LA - NYC - SF - OAK

W W W. S U P R A D I S T R I B U T I O N . C O M

F O U R S TA R S T I C K E R S @ S U P R A D I S T R I B U T I O N . C O M

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF Kevin Lowry intro

Frank Daniello

stills and captions

London, UK Kevin Lowry

lex kembery

NIMBLE-FOOTED LINES AND PROPER CRUISING SPEEDS are what Kevin Lowry likes to dish out, and you don’t need to look much further than his ender part in 2010’s Elephant Direct to get a solid dose. The 23-year-old calls Calgary home-base, but spends a decent portion of the year globetrotting. After a stint in Portugal with Russ Milligan and Josh Matthews (as seen in Concrete #113), Kevin skipped over to Barcelona before making it to London, England for six weeks, starting on April Fools’ Day. “The trip was a good way to get some footage for the Blueprint web part I’ve been working on for a year-and-a-half, and to see some of the team guys like Neil Smith, Nick Jensen, Danny Brady and Tom Knox.” Accommodations were provided by Blueprint filmer Jake Harris, who lives in a South London district that once held the moniker Gun Town. “Peckham is super ghetto, but it wasn’t too bad. You just have to mind your own business,” Kevin explains shortly after telling a story about nearly being bottled one night by a surly local. When asked what his favourite pub brew on tap was, Kevin simply said: “I don’t drink, so that’s how I save all my money for trips [laughs]. I drank a lot of tea; Twinings English Breakfast is the best, even at four in the morning after skating Central London all night.” Although he’s purchased an arsenal of video cameras over the years, including six VX1000s and now a fully kitted Panasonic HVX, Kevin’s still camera of choice for world travel documentation happens to be a Canon PowerShot SD880-IS he found at work. “No one came for it after a month, so it’s the point-and-shoot I’ve had for two years now. I’ve used it in China, Portugal twice, Berlin, all over Canada, New York, SF and now London. It’s treated me well [laughs].”

Wallride Photo: Henry Kingsford 28

Concrete skateboarding

English Breakfast

Three Stripes

Harbour Hideout

South Bank

RudeBoy

Ghost Town

“They just call this a fry-up. We’d eat it every morning and sometimes for dinner, too. It’s potato waffles, baked beans, fried eggs and sausage. When I’d add some avocado and tomato they were all very skeptical of it because everything is supposed to be greasy.”

“This fancy little harbour is an off-cut of the River Thames with hotels surrounding it and a bunch of crazy boats. Right in the middle there’s a giant Starbucks with huge pillars and people can pull right up to it in their boats. The London Bridge is right on the other side of that building.”

“That’s my friend Karim Bakhtaoui and Mark Gonzales. Karim is a rudeboy kind of guy, a real character, and Mark was so intrigued by him. They were such a funny combo. I got to hang out with the Adidas guys for a week, and it was my first time meeting Gonz. He’s been such an icon for so many years, and he’s the nicest dude.”

“This is Lucas Puig, Nestor Judkins and Chewy Cannon, who’s a good friend of mine. It was after an Adidas demo, so we all just went to the pub with a bunch of local dudes. People were skating flat out front and the pub served them beer on the street, so it was a little shindig until we went out for dinner at about midnight [laughs].”

“I remember going to South Bank for the first time when I was about 16. It’s right on the Thames so loads of tourists walk by and hang out. There’s all these steep banks and blocks, and people skate there until all hours of the night because it’s lit. South Bank is probably the oldest spot in London that’s still skated every day.”

“The skyline across the Thames at night. Not too many people live in Central London, they mostly commute in and out of there. During the day there are so many people around that you can’t even push down the sidewalk. But when businesses close it’s a complete ghost town. You can do anything you want, so we’d skate until four in the morning.”

Bottled Galleon

“We’d always get off the bus at this fairly central spot in London, and every time I’d look up at the giant boat in a bottle. I was told that during the summer musicians take turns standing on the bottle while playing the violin or whatever. It’s probably like 20 feet long by 15 feet wide, and that piece of cork is huge.”

Morning Glory

“There’s a crusty old picnic table that’s all rickety and covered in spider webs in Jake Harris’ backyard. I remember sitting down and this wasp was tangled in a web, so a few days later when it was all dried up I decided to take a picture while we ate a fry-up in the morning [laughs].”

Solid Ender

“London Bridge on the last day I was there. The sun was going down and we had just finished skating a brick manual pad on the patio of some building. I needed to take a picture of this while we were sitting there because it was one of the better spots I’d been to and it was a super nice day.”

Concrete skateboarding

Ollie Photo: Lex Kembery

distributed by Ultimate

THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF Ian Twa intro

Frank Daniello

stills and captions

Puerto Rico Ian Twa

brian caissie

AS ONE OF CANADA’S HARDEST WORKING SKATEBOARDERS, Ian Twa scored his first cover on our May 2011 issue, and also appeared in the title feature about 1611 East – the Vancouver skate house he lives in. Prior to his Concrete coverage onslaught, the 25-year-old took a break from the cold west coast rain in January. He visited the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico for eight days with teamsters from the recently-dissolved Affiliate Skateboard Company that was based out of Chicago. “Johnny Fonseca was an original Affiliate team rider years ago and lived in Puerto Rico before,” Ian explains. “So that’s how the idea for this trip came about. I went into it thinking we’re going to this Third World tropical island to hang out at nice beaches and skate some really rugged Caribbean shit. But 80 percent of the stuff we skated was perfect marble plazas. Not grimy at all compared to Vancouver [laughs].” The 15-person crew stayed on the Universidad de Puerto Rico campus, in an area called Rio Peidras that’s located just outside of the capital, San Juan. They spent most of their time in the city, but with the help of insightful guides they also sampled spots all over the island since it only takes about three hours to drive across it. Even though time was short in this U.S. territory nestled in the Caribbean Sea, Ian experienced it from a perspective that can’t be gained while lurking amongst the resort hotel monoliths on the San Juan beachscape. “Even though it is a beautiful place, it’s not the paradise that’s advertised to the all-inclusive vacationers,” Ian confirms before explaining the following photos he snapped with his BlackBerry. “There’s definitely a lot of problems there, like mass amounts of poverty, corruption, crime and gun violence. But the locals are amazing, and getting their take on things is what stood out the most to me.”

gap to Frontside 50-50 Photo: Sam McGuire 34

Concrete skateboarding

Locals only

Python Party

Not Sonic

Balcony giants

Puerto Presidente

The Wall

“It was 30-above in the winter, and the water was warm. This is the beach in San Juan where the locals hang out. They said in the summer when it’s 40 above, there’s nowhere to sit because it’s so full. When we were there, people would climb the trees to cut off coconuts and sell them on the street for an American dollar.”

“This is Carlos’ hedgehog. The thing he’s standing on is actually a dinner placemat, to put how small he is into perspective. I seriously thought the hedgehog was a cactus at first, then he slowly uncurled and started walking around. The prickles feel like spiked, gelled hair when you touch them.”

“That’s me and Frank Guzman. He’s the guy you want to find if you’re ever in Puerto Rico. He’s the Podium rep down there and he’ll take you to the spots, take you to the beach and take you to the clubs. We’ve kept in touch through e-mail and he hits me up once-a-month, like: ‘Come back to the island, man.’ Him and Carlos were our Puerto Rican family.”

“This is Carlos Barros, one of our guides. He’s one of the most genuine people I’ve ever had the good fortune of meeting. Carlos owns one of the top 10 reptile collections in the world, and he’s also part of these programs that help endangered species on the island. Here he’s holding two different python species in front of his backyard mini-ramp.”

“This is an apartment building on the university campus, about a block away from where we were staying. There’s this huge 30-foot-tall painting on the building of a mom and her daughter. It’s super weird. I snapped the photo because the little girl is holding a skateboard.”

“There are castles that run along the far northeastern side of Old San Juan. It’s a pretty big tourist attraction, and some of the walls continue on and basically encircle the slum (La Perla), dividing it from the rest of the city. You can only get into the area through a few entrances in the walls.”

La Perla

“This was shot from a castle wall looking down into the ghetto in Old San Juan. The locals that took us in there seemed to know everyone but said: ‘Without a question, we’re out of here at sundown.’ Once you walk into this neighbourhood, people literally run up to you with open briefcases full of narcotics and guns in their hands. It’s run by the drug cartels and the cops don’t go there.”

Beach Break

“I was standing on the San Juan beach locals go to, and that line of buildings in the distance are the allinclusive hotels with private beaches. Even though we were told it wasn’t the best day for it, me and photographer Sam McGuire rented some boards and tried to get our surf on. We failed miserably [laughs].”

Gracias Por Todo

“Andre Colbert is on the left, and the dude on the right is the owner of the bar that was located right below our apartments. He wanted everyone to sign a Puerto Rico graphic that was made for the trip. I was on the Affiliate team for over two years and they were always so supportive. Bless it as a company, but it’s no more. Neen Williams rode for them and went over to Deathwish, Derrick Wilson moved on to DGK and I’m riding for Zoo York now. The Affiliate crew signed off on a positive note with this trip to Puerto Rico.”

Concrete skateboarding

Kickflip 50-50 Photos: Sam McGuire

distributed by Ultimate

words

Richard Sarrazin

photos

Andrew Szeto

The barrier spot you spent two days fixing up got ripped out by the city, and that wooden contraption you built last summer skates like it was made of cardboard. The textbook transitions at the local park are fun, but for some reason they just don’t shine like they used to. In 2010 I finally decided to build a private pool in my rural Ottawa backyard, and I’m gonna try my best to break down how it was done. I’m hoping it plants a seed that leads to more pools popping up in backyards across the country. Maybe this is what you need in your life right now – something to focus on and something to get completely hell-bent on like a trick you want so bad. No matter what it turns out to be, it’s gonna be rad and it’s gonna be yours. After talking to master concrete park and bowl designer Luke Jouppi while his crew was out east last summer, he brought up the pool idea and it didn’t take much convincing. He assured me about how simple it can be. All I had to do is dig it out and frame it myself, then after his crew finished their last job they’d come shotcrete what I started before heading back home to BC. Wow, dream come true. Only thing is I had eight weeks to get started before their arrival. Good luck. A project like this definitely can’t be done without the help of a few good pals. Most people would plan something like this over a couple years, getting their contacts and permits in place, not to mention crunching numbers. Our plan was super rushed, but it can be done. Building your own backyard pool is not a farfetched idea if you’re organized and resourceful, especially if it’s straight-up DIY. 40

Concrete skateboarding

Frontside Air

Stalefish

First thing, how are you going to explain this to your neighbours? They already think you’re strange enough. You definitely want to be on their good side, so start offering to help that little old lady with small projects, and teach the kid next door how to ollie. Keep it polite. Eventually you’re going to have to be honest and tell them that the pool is not for swimming. Or you can just move to the country. Problem solved.

Don’t be stupid, it’s a free service. They send someone who will mark out the gas and phone lines with spray paint. Then you can plan a shape that works best within your space. Depending on the by-laws in your area, a permit may be necessary. We got a Pool Enclosure Permit for $150 by providing a detailed sketch with the dimensions of the backyard and the pool. Consider it as insurance if someone calls by-law with any complaints. Just go with a regular pool permit, they’re easy to get and very common. Never tell them it’s a pool for skating and make sure you follow the by-laws (fence height, distance to house, etc.) or it means being hassled. Get our paperwork in order. You’re going to want to consult with a good skatepark contractor about the design and before your prep-build. They’ll give you advice when you run into any problems because you probably will. Just try not to be a pain in the ass. 42

Concrete skateboarding

You can’t even drive standard, so how are you going to dig a giant hole with the mini-excavator and Bobcat that you rented for two days? This is when the friend-of-afriend comes in to dig for cash or beer. Dirt removal is big business and, well, dirty. Forget about dump trucks unless you know someone. They can cost up to $100-per-hour. The best bang for your buck is having one dumpster at-atime dropped off in your driveway. Do some Internetting and make some calls to find someone who is looking for clean fill (dirt), preferably close by, and split the dumpster cost with them. This is the first major ding in the cash flow. Be ready and organized as the dumpsters fill up fast and you’ll have steady traffic coming and going all day. It’s hell. We filled 12 huge dumpsters in two days while digging the hole. Puke in your hard-hat and put it back on your head, it helps! Once the rough hole is dug, cut wooden templates of the transitions you want. Fit and place them where you want, hand digging the walls to their shape. Build the frame, which will hold and shape the upper part of the pool’s walls. Pounding wooden stakes around the perimeter of the hole will hold the frame (saddles), along with the sheeting on the back of the outer wall and the top plate radius (where the coping will go). Your pool obviously needs a drain. Go with the “French Drain” – the simplest way. It is a four-inch pipe angled to a large vertical pipe that sits behind your pool. When the basin fills with water, put a sump-pump in the large vertical pipe to drain.

Frontside Invert

Now you need to form a strong base for your pool. You’ll need “A-Grade” gravel to spread over the entire surface inside of the pool. I used two dump truck loads, roughly three tons, that had to be shoveled and ‘barrowed from the driveway into the pit. With a vibrating compactor, go over the entire area and as far up the walls as possible all the while soaking the gravel with water as you’re compacting it. Six inches of compacted gravel works best. Make sure you take this into consideration when digging the hole, as you’ll also add six to eight inches of concrete surface on top of that. Aim to dig a foot deeper than where you want the pool surface to be.

The last part of preparation before adding concrete is shaping the pool with rebar. 10mm rebar works best, since it’ll have to be bent

to the shape of your templates to create your grid or cage. After you’ve done the prep, you’re ready for the shotcrete. It’s hard to get away with doing this yourself because you won’t know what the hell you’re doing. The nearest skatepark designer and builders might be able to save you the hassle of having to rent a compressor and hopper. You could go with a local pool company to do everything mentioned above, but the finished concrete usually comes out rough, lumpy and expensive, plus they’ll think you’re an idiot. Go with the skatepark contractor who speaks on the same level, because they want the pool to be good as much as you do. As for the coping, there are a few options. You can make a mold and pour your own, which is the cheapest route. You can also buy all different shapes and sizes, or even have it custom made. You just have to do the research and find what suits your budget.

Melon Grab

Our neighbours down south have lit the match, and the backyard skate scene is making the biggest comeback since the golden days of ’80s ramp building. Every skater has dreams of their own hassle-free skate spot that was built with pals. No headphones, just epic sessions with the barbeque sizzling on the side. We’ve all seen it somewhere else. How great would it be to have your own?

Heart-shape d love seat, 4/ backyard pool with 2 hips, 5/7-foot trans itions (foot of in the deep ), w ve and 44 pieces orking light, “French dr rt ain” of premium po to spend ab ol bl oc k. Willing ou 10 bros (bee t $13,000. Help from ab r, pizza and lodging prov out an understa ided), nding girlfrie nd and Vans The World/In /Top Of dependent/V olcom/Five Tattoo Shop Cents is greatly ap preciated.

Concrete skateboarding

Hasselblad or Bust

Hendrik Herzmann The Skate Photography of

intro Frank Daniello captions Hendrik Herzmann

is name might not be so familiar on this side of the pond, but if you plan on heading over to Europe to partake in some high-end skate tourism, it would be advantageous to cross paths with Köln (Cologne), Germany’s Hendrik Herzmann for a few reasons. Not only is he well-versed in Deutschland skateboarding, with solid knowledge of Spain’s concrete landscape in the mix, the 25-year-old also speaks English fluently and he’s a staff photographer for Europe’s longest running skate magazine, Monster [skateboardmsm.mpora.de]. The Cologne-based publication started in 1982 and is sold throughout Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Herzmann has worked with the mag for three years, claiming: “It doesn’t feel like a job most of the time.” Aside from the gig with Monster, his freelance efforts span across a list of 30 other clients, including European publications like Kingpin (England / kingpin.mpora.com), Sugar (France / sugarskatemag.com) and Soma (France / somaskate.com). Herzmann’s foray into photography began in Dortmund at the age of 14, when his crew decided to start a DIY website. “I was responsible for the pictures, so I grabbed a cheap plastic camera to take photos of all the homies skating our local park,” he recalls. “I quickly found out that I was really into it, and my dad gave me his Canon A1 with a 50mm 1.4, a wide angle and a long-lens zoom for my 16th birthday. This is pretty much the camera I started to actually learn with, and I still use it a lot,” he says before adding: “I didn’t take any photography classes, I learned it all on the streets.” The 2009 Photo Annual was the last time a European photographer (Belgium’s Jelle Keppens) was profiled on the pages of Concrete, and there’s a shared similarity between that subject and Herzmann. They’re both film purists, which is a dwindling medium on the North American side of skate photography. In a world that’s fully enveloped in the Digital Age, putting the future of film stocks in question, Herzmann takes things a profound step beyond owning a sometimes-fired Hasselblad 500 C/M. It’s actually his main camera, and it’s responsible for each and every image in this feature. “When I started to take photos, nobody had a digital camera,” he explains. “I started to shoot on film and still do it most of the time. I like the process of setting up the camera by loading the film, then getting it developed and picking it up at the lab. I think no digital setup can give me the feeling of firing a Hasselblad.” herzmannphoto.com

Concrete skateboarding

Ammo Melchert Backside wallride Hamburg, Germany

30mm CF Fisheye Fuji Provia 100F lighting: 2x Lumedyne 400 lens: film:

“This is a very famous spot in Hamburg, and there has never been a photo of someone wallriding down the big stairs. Although it’s not the hardest trick, I think it looks like a lot of fun, which made it worth shooting.”

Mark Frölich Noseblunt

Barcelona, Spain

150mm f4 CF Fuji Provia 100F lighting: 2x Lumedyne 400 2x Nikon SB-25 lens: film:

“Mark is one of the most productive skateboarders in Europe, and he always finds new spots in Barcelona. I really like the contrast of old young and old with the guy in the background at this spot on the outskirts of the city.”

Felix Lensing

Backside Lipslide Hamburg, Germany

30mm CF Fisheye Fuji Provia 100F lighting: 2x Lumedyne 400 2x Nikon SB-25 lens: film:

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Fall is probably the best time of the year to shoot photos, and on sunny days you always get fantastic colours. The brown and yellow trees are what really make this photo.â&#x20AC;?

Concrete skateboarding

Christopher Skubis & Bartosz Frontside air over frontside grab-grind Hagen, Germany

30mm CF Fisheye Kodak Ektar 100 lighting: 2x Lumedyne 400 lens: film:

“When I saw footage of these guys doing doubles in one of Germany’s deepest bowls, I couldn’t believe it. I’ve also never seen a doubles with both skaters going the same direction before. I decided to check it out myself…”

Hasselblad or Bust

Hendrik Herzmann The Skate Photography of

Kevin Wenzke Tailblock

Münster, Germany

lens: film:

30mm CF Fisheye Fuji Provia 100F 2x Lumedyne 400 2x Nikon SB-25

lighting:

“The famous Berg Fidel Bowl recently got a retouch. A lot of cracks disappeared, but it didn’t lose its gnarly dimensions. Kevin is the type of guy that makes bowl skating look so easy. You wouldn’t want to slip out on a tailblock like this.”

Concrete skateboarding

Kerry Getz

Frontside Grab Antwerp, Belgium

150mm f4 CF Fuji Provia 100F lighting: 2x Lumedyne 400 lens: film:

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I went on a little Habitat camping trip in 2009, which is when we hit this nice spot in Antwerp for a session. Kerry had a lot of fun blasting out of this tranny.â&#x20AC;?

Concrete skateboarding

Manuel Margreiter Crooked Grind Madrid, Spain

30mm CF Fisheye Kodak t-Max 100 lighting: 2x Lumedyne 400 lens: film:

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Back in 2010 I was invited to a photo contest in Madrid. This is one of the many I shot with Manuel during the week I spent in Spain. You can really see how fast he went for this crooks to gap-out over the last step.â&#x20AC;?

Ümit Akbulut

Frontside Over-Crook Madrid, Spain

30mm CF Fisheye Fuji Provia 100F lighting: 2x Lumedyne 400 lens: film:

“Ümit worked really hard for this trick and luckily rolled away five minutes before it started to rain. I really like the dramatic clouds in this one.”

Concrete skateboarding

willow Kickflip

Cologne, Germany

150mm f4 CF Fuji Provia 100F lighting: 2x Lumedyne 400 2x Nikon SB-25 lens: film:

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Shooting with Christoph 'Willow' Wildgrube always guarantees great photos and great times. This spot is incredibly rough to skate and actually requires that you wear gloves.â&#x20AC;?

Kalle Wiehn

Backside Kickflip Duisburg, Germany

lens: film:

30mm CF Fisheye Fuji Provia 100F 2x Lumedyne 400 2x Nikon SB-25

lighting:

“To make this spot skateable we had to chop off one of those yellow rails that was blocking the run-up. It was completely worth all the work after seeing Kalle’s amazing backside flip over the gap.”

Hasselblad or Bust

Hendrik Herzmann The Skate Photography of

Simon Schulz

Switch Front Feeble Wuppertal, Germany

lens: film:

30mm CF Fisheye Fuji Provia 100F 2x Lumedyne 400 2x Nikon SB-25

lighting:

â&#x20AC;&#x153;When Simon tried this trick the first time he got really close, but our session was rain-interrupted. The exact same thing happened when we came back the next day. A couple weeks later, Simon traveled all the way to this spot again to complete his mission.â&#x20AC;?

Concrete skateboarding

4 MONTHS TO FILM. 2 WEEKS TO UPLOAD. 1 YEAR TO BOAST. TAKE THE TITLE HOME! PRIZE DETAILS: s¬ ¬).¬%,%#42/.)#3¬%15)0-%.4 s¬# 2#!¬8¬@9/52¬3(/0 ¬#534/-¬3(/% s¬053( #!¬3(/0¬6)$%/¬02/&),%¬!.$¬/.,).%¬3(/0¬!$¬#!-0!)'. s¬#/.#2%4%¬3+!4%"/!2$).'¬%$)4/2)!,¬!.$¬# 2#!¬34/2%¬7!23¬!$¬&%!452).'¬4(%¬7)..).'¬3(/0

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distributed by Ultimate

Silence Is Golden

Derek Swaim The Life & Times of

Concrete skateboarding

photos by Brian Caissie

aving grown up a mere hour-and-a-half drive south of Derek Swaim’s hometown of Kamloops, BC, I’ve been well aware of his high-caliber skating for years. Way back when, I would see him roll through Vernon with his crew every couple of months, then a day later hear about all the crazy shit he did at our spots. If only I knew him like I do now, I would’ve told him and his posse to beat it and quit messing with our turf! All joking aside, it’s not often enough that you come across someone like Derek in skateboarding. Being truly modest is one thing and being able to skate anything in front of you is another, but seeing someone like Swaim combine the two with ease and have as much fun as his first day learning kickflips is straight humbling. Not to mention his flatground game... You think his line is done after the flip-in, flip-out? Nah. He’s doing flip tricks all the way to the store!

In my mind, Derek falls into the category of what I’d consider to be a photographer or filmer’s dream. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him leave a session empty-handed. When I caught wind of the Tournament Capital native wanting a bit of a fresh start as far as his career goes in skateboarding, I was overly happy to be in a position where I could help him find something new. I’m fucking hyped to have him on the program, and if the testimonial you just read isn’t convincing enough, check out the following photos and read what some other people have to say about The Swaim.

—Dane Collison, Supra Dist. TM

irst off, if you’re ever fortunate enough to experience momma Swaim’s cooking, you’re stoked! I’m pretty damn sure that’s how Derek gained all of his abilities. Wonderful Asian cooking aside, Swaim and I go back a few years and I feel more than blessed to know such a talented character. I also have him to thank for a lot of the tricks that I’ve learned just by watching him and asking: “Swaim, how in the hell do you do that!?” He’ll gladly show you, but it’s never as easy as he makes it out to be. Derek has that true love for skateboarding, which is rare to find in this day and age. He doesn’t give a shit about getting his latest footage out on the Internet for everyone to see. It’ll end up happening sometime, and when it does it will inspire all of us.

Nate roline 64

Concrete skateboarding

BACKSIDE HEELFLIP VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

erek and I went to the same elementary school, but he was two grades above me. I remember one random day I had my board at school and he asked to try it. He was wearing big puffy Nike basketball shoes and could already pop a decent ollie. We started skating together a bit more, and one summer I was staying at his house every night – just waking up and cruising around to street spots in Kamloops. Every morning his CD player was timed to turn on and play music at 9am, and I remember some of the songs being “Bling Bling” By B.G., “Back That Ass Up” by Juvenile and “Changes” by Tupac. For the longest time Derek would only wear golf pants that were way too long, so he’d roll them up like five times so the cuff was huge and bulky. I remember he would always do huge acid drops off anything in sight, whether it was a set of stairs or the back of a trailer.

STACY GABRIEL

photos Keith Henry

hen I first met Derek, I was eight-years-old. He’s nine years older than me, so you can imagine that with such an age difference I was nothing but an annoying little kid constantly asking him questions in between tricks at the park. But thanks to Derek’s humbleness and patience, I still to this day skate with him all the time. Even after all these years he manages to amaze me with his light foot control on the board. It’s almost like he learns tricks in his sleep or something because you never see him try, he’s just doing it. Whether he’s skating a vert ramp in the woods or a rail in the streets, you can tell the dude is in his element. It’s amazing to watch. If you ever get a chance to see Derek skate, take a seat and take notes!

MATT BERGER 66

Concrete skateboarding

Inward heelFlip wallride fakie SEATTLE, WASHINGTON

Frontside halfcab noseslide switch kickFLip out

uring a camping trip to the Kootenays for the Josh Evin Memorial Jam this summer, we pulled up to the Slocan City bowl just as a thunderstorm was rolling through. Everybody scattered out of the park and hid under the tents nearby while Derek embraced the rain like it was a sunny afternoon. He killed the park for hours, pulling off an epic one-man demo as thunder was crashing in the hills. Since the start of this year I definitely got to know him a lot better through various trips abroad, and the one thing thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s certain is Derek just loves to skate. That Slocan rainstorm shred proved it.

KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA NICK MOORE

BACKSIDE nollie HEELFLIP SHENZHEN, CHINA 68

Concrete skateboarding

here are a lot of good things to be said about Derek. I could tell you he’s a good skateboarder, but that should already be apparent. I watched him for years growing up, back when he used to ride for Model Skateboards based out of Edmonton. I’ve always been hyped on the way he skates – the effortless flick and deep bag of tricks that you can never really digest until you see it in person. If he’s trying a trick on one thing at the park, he’ll never leave the other features untouched. Derek will do lines for days as if he’s playing a video game, and he rarely misses. As a person, he keeps most things to himself and only speaks when it’s necessary. Derek is always caught up with the latest and greatest rap mixtapes, and knows all the lyrics. I can recite entire albums with the guy, which is great on a road trip… for us at least. Maybe not the other people in the car.

keith henry

Concrete skateboarding

BIGSPIN FRONTSIDE BOARDSLIDE KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA

erek Swaim, aka “Derelique” has what I like to call ill style. Ever since I met the dude a couple years ago at the Vancouver Plaza, he’s been killing it softly. This well-traveled Kamloops dweller is one the best dudes to go on a trip with. He’s super mellow and he doesn’t complain about shit. You can really tell Derek loves to skate and that gets me so hyped about him. If he’s working on something to the point where anyone else would’ve focused their board in complete rage, Derek just keeps it relaxed and keeps trying. It’s this attitude that sparked the name “Zen Garden” on our trip to China this year. All in all, he’s definitely one of my favourite skaters to watch when he’s doing his thing because you can just tell he’s having fun. That’s why we all started skating in the first place.

AJ Mc CALLISTER

nollie 180 HEELFLIP SHENZHEN, CHINA

his has been said before about others but I truly believe that Derek is the most underrated skateboarder in all of Canada. It’s not just the fact that he can do every trick, it’s the style of delivery that separates D-Swaim from the average flow bro. One of my favourite skate-related stories involving Derek happened about four years ago. We rolled up to this beat old three-block in Vancouver that had been absolutely destroyed by skaters for years. I thought we weren’t going to get shit there, so I jokingly yelled at Derek to switch laser flip it. No more than 10 minutes later he rolled away from the perfect catch, then popped his board into his hand and laughed before shrugging his shoulders and continuing to skate. This is the manner in which Derek lives. He is not in your face. He finds the humour in everyday life and humbly achieves greatness on the daily. I think we could all afford to take a lesson from him on and off a skateboard.

BEN STODDARD

Concrete skateboarding

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.dylan doubt. A Photo Retrospective

intro Mike Christie photos and captions Dylan Doubt

Certain people somehow manage to conjure a sense of adventure no matter what they are doing or where they go. Vancouver’s Dylan Doubt is the emperor of those people. There is nobody – nobody! – that I’d take a trip with than the man who took these photos. Even a trip with him to go check out a used car in Surrey feels epic and momentous, like the next greatest discovery is just around the corner. When you examine his photos you can find this same adventurous spirit, this same by-the-seatof-your-pants joy. There is always an urgency there: in the ghosts of slow shutter speeds, the thrilling lack of lighting perfection, the unmistakable grit. And there is something magical in the way Dylan frames a shot, often not from the craziest or most impressive angle, but the angle that you’d witness the trick from if you were actually there skating with the dude. Maybe this is just it:

sure, Dylan is a photographer and he knows all the technical stuff there is to know, but what everybody loves about shooting with him is that he’s actually more of a skater than a photographer. He thinks like a skater and he also damn well skates like a skater! Dylan is not just shooting with you, he’s skating with you. Lucky for you, he just happened to bring his camera along. But the best part comes after you got your photo, and you get to hang out with one of very best dudes on planet Earth. Recently, Dylan has been teaching photography. All I can say is those students are lucky they get to spend some time with one of the most respected skate photographers around. Let’s hope that along with the technical stuff, some of his adventurous spirit rubs off on them. It’s not my intent to get nostalgic here, but it should be mentioned that I’ve spent some of the greatest moments of my

life sitting shotgun in various rented mini-vans with Dylan driving on a dark highway, six knockout-stoned skateboarders dozing in the back seats, something awesome playing low on the stereo, a tasty road brew cracked and warming in my hand, and me and Dylan talking about whatever comes to mind. I suspect this period I spent skating with Dylan and the Antisocial dudes was about as good of a time as a person can possibly have. It’s easy to think of it as a Golden Age. Maybe some of you are living your Golden Age right now. Actually, you probably don’t even know it if you are. But if you think you might be: take a hint from Dylan and savour that shit. I’m serious. Record it, photograph it, write it all down, but most of all: live it. Because when you’re with a dude as amazing as Dylan, the next Golden Age is always right around the bend.

Myself, Frontside Rock Palo Alto, CA . c. 2002 the ideal session is one where i skate a little bit, shoot a few photos, then find myself skating again. every now and then i get to hand the camera over to someone else and get one for posterity. the other option is to make a vanload of dudes wait while an old man sessions some awkward obstacle, losing his mind over a stupid trick that any of them could probably do first try. the ever calm and collected mike mccourt shot this photo. Concrete skateboarding

Daniel “Alien” Nelson, Backlip Vancouver, BC . c. 2001 alien was and still is one of the most driven kids, from his mom dropping him off at my house with a backpack full of bacon, to night missions and full frontal nudity. one night when he was still quite young i took him on a tour of the downtown eastside. we saw a prostitute shooting up into her neck and we tried to free a few chickens from a chicken factory truck. he may have been scarred for life...

Bradley Sheppard Gap to 5-0 Vancouver, BC c. 2003 i first noticed brad in a board kennel video and immediately wondered why i hadn’t heard more about him. more specifically, why no one had hooked us up to shoot. his frontside 50-50 backside 180 out was and still is mind blowing. this was early on in our shooting together. over the years we’ve had a pretty good volume going, and he will always have a spot reserved in the great mystical tour van. 78

Concrete skateboarding

Ben Demoskoff, Frontside Noseslide Vancouver, BC . c.1999 these were the days when i mostly skated around with the camera bag. at the time i was living pretty close to commercial drive, so after this we probably had samosas. going through the archives, i realized just how many gnarly things ben did in and around this city, but not limited to it (he both hurricaned and feebled hubba hideout before anyone else, and may have even filmed himself doing it!). ben is the stuff of legend. he resurfaced in 2005 and was on fire while filming a part for port moody blues. i ran into him last summer at the new slocan park in the kootenays, and heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still killing it as low key as ever.

.dylan doubt. A Photo Retrospective

Chris “Les” Ramsay, Backside 50-50 Vancouver, BC . c. 1997

Mike McDermott, Switch Tailslide San Francisco, CA . c. 2002

i’ve always been a sucker for a simple backside 50-50. this is another one from the golden days of cruising around with the camera bag on my back. les and i did a lot of that back in the day, both in vancouver and around the bay area. we once drove his volkswagan fox down to santa rosa and he kept an aromatherapy sock on the dash the whole time. then we found ourselves in phoenix where i threw away his maraschino cherry. i thought i was doing him a favour, but i could clearly see that he was bummed.

this photo was also shot on a 5’12” filming mission. mcd and ted degros had been getting into it over the past few days, and they had a long-running and rather heated soccer ball juggling competition going. after the switch tail, and probably in response to something ted said, mike promptly took over the ball and tapped into his massive bag of confidence. he made us all wait until he’d juggled 300 or so times, just to put the final nail in the coffin.

Concrete skateboarding

Mike Christie, Backside Tailslide Vancouver, BC . c. 2005 this bank has very little in the way of a ride-out. dirt and shrubbery mostly, but mike managed to hang on just long enough for us to call it a make. i shot this on scala, which is a defunct black and white slide film. great stuff, but there was only one lab in canada that processed it. i think now you’re out of luck, but i keep a roll of 35mm sitting around just in case. i’d like to think i was at least partially, meaning mostly, responsible for mike’s resurgence in the skate scene. if i hadn’t been hanging around with a camera, it’s unlikely that much of this skating would have been documented at all. mike is a true friend, so much so that he even named his son after the month that is exactly 6 months after my birth. he is also the brother of my daughter.

Brett Stobbart, Kickflip San Francisco, CA . c. 2004

Jon West, Hurricane Port Moody, BC . 2001 Concrete Powder Skateboard Annual cover

shot this on the way back from a trip to alex chalmers’ winter home in phoenix with him, keegan sauder, quinn starr and bradley sheppard in a rented concorde. whenever i tell anyone from s.f. about this photo they are blown away. it’s on clipper, just down from the big hubba, and it’s always been a huge bust. i bought brett a burrito for doing it. i’ve never seen stiffness look so good on a man. err... you know what i mean. brett rules. we were staying with some friends of mine in the mission, and it’s worth noting that a spark was ignited on this trip that left keegan falling in love. now six years later he lives in that very house and calls her his ol’ lady.

jon and i never quite shot together as much as we probably should have, but we seemed to have pretty good luck whenever we did. this was a pretty epic night session out in port moody. major dave (r.i.p.) did a backside hurricane and a very young bradley sheppard did a nollie noseslide. thanks to jon’s edit of dave’s tribute video, i get a little bummed out every time i hear david bowie’s “major tom”.

Keegan Sauder, Smith Grind Vancouver, BC . c. 2003 this was during the heyday of the wolf house. a crazy summer of red wine, dance parties, motorcycles, skateboarding and general good times that we were all lucky to have survived. there is no doubt that i would pick keegan to be involved with every skate trip i go on, if only to remind us when not to skate! i type these captions on gabriola island across from a stand of cliffs where years ago, on our first motorcycle trip together, i watched him “seal the deal” and pee in his shorts before leaping off into the icy waters below. 82

Concrete skateboarding

Sheldon Meleshinski, Gap to 5-0 Everett, WA . c. 2006 sheldon has always been an exciting dude to shoot with. he really doesn’t fuck around. i was surprised that he was serious about trying this because we’d been driving and skating all day, and our light set up was not good. the confident little bugger did it in very few tries. note bradley’s super funky hat acquired earlier that day. normally i’d hate to see a filmer in the shot, but under the circumstances i’m embracing it!

.dylan doubt. A Photo Retrospective

Travis Stenger, Kickflip San Francisco, CA . c. 2002

Mitch Charron, Back Noseblunt Sacramento, CA . c. 2003

i had just met trav at this point and was immediately impressed. there are few people who can do what he does as well as he does it. i like that about trav. a photo of a kickflip, or an ollie for that matter, is usually as jawdropping as one of his groundbreaking sequences. on this trip we ran into john rattray who rolled his r’s like a good scotsman when he quipped, “he’s got a kickflip like chris cole.”

this was shot during an antisocial filming mission. one of many over the years. mitch was and will always be one of the smoother cats out there.

Concrete skateboarding

Quinn Starr, Frontside Ollie Vancouver, BC . c. 2007 the fisheye version of quinnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s frontside ollie appeared in a color article. the frontside ollies alone that we have shot over the years would make for an epic retrospective. quinn is hands-down my favourite skateboarder to watch and has been since we first met in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;95 at the nelson skatepark. our daughters even share a birthday.

Jesse Booi, Backside Tailslide Vancouver, BC . c. 2009

Rick McCrank, Switch Ollie Vancouver, BC . c. 2001

mitch and i actually fixed up this spot before some filming contest. it was our gift to the kids, as we never really shot anything on it. during this session with brett and jesse, we talked about starting our own skate brand, “obsession - for men”. we had a brilliant concept, and i still marvel that we didn’t follow through with it. jesse is still ripping, and this backtail is a good reminder that it ain’t so much about what you do, it’s how you do it. the black flamingo rarely makes for a bad photo.

mcd, who’s always had a knack with names, coined this spot as “van canyon”. and with good reason. still to this day people don’t really skate it. as i recall, rick had to do this a couple times and not without some mental anguish. in fact, he may have tapped into this experience a few years later acting as the great blair stanley in harvey spannos. rick is one of the greats, and always a pleasure to shoot and skate with.

Concrete skateboarding

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Pat Tremblay 360 flip photo reno gagnon

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Jamie Tancowny backside tailslide photo owen woytowich

Mikey Plantus backside Wallride photo will jivcoff Concrete skateboarding

Lee Yankou hardflip to wallride photo joe hammeke 94

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Alexander Mitchell Backside 180 nosegrind photo curtis rothney

Dustin Montie gap to tailslide photo rich odam

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Hill Sulpher backside nosegrind photo will jivcoff

Nick Moore Frontside Kickflip photo brian caissie Concrete skateboarding

Cameo Wilson Backside Tailslide photo brian caissie

Mitch Pryma Frontside Boardslide photo will jivcoff

Jordan Hoffart Crooked grind pop-out photo deville nunes Concrete skateboarding

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Adam Hopkins Kickflip photo joel dufresne

Chad Wilson Lipslide photo eirik dunlop

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Sean Lowe backside noseblunt photo rich odam

Mark Appleyard backside kickflip photo andrew mapstone

Ethan Kilgour Front board pop-out photo sam fidlin Concrete skateboarding

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Corey Klim Front blunt pop-down to fakie photo brian caissie

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Charles Deschamps Boardslide photo babas levrai Concrete skateboarding

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David Reyes Frontside bluntslide photo brian caissie Concrete skateboarding

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John Bergsma Switch heelflip photo sam fidlin 108

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Seb Labbe Crooked Grind photo eirik dunlop

Mike Campbell Heelflip photo brian caissie

Will Blakley Blunt to fakie photo brian caissie 110

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Matt Berger backside nosebluntslide photo brian caissie

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Filmer Pack

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To win the goods (approx. Value $700) all you have to do is: •Provide a short paragraph (3-4 sentences) that explains why you should win this Filmer Pack. •Send us a YouTube or Vimeo link to the best video (2-5 minutes) you’ve filmed and edited. Email your entry to: filmerpack@concreteskateboarding.com

The most creative response and video combo wins! contest closes September 15th, 2011 // open to Canadian residents only.

Eazy Handle (learn more about it on p.24) has teamed up with Concrete to give away this Filmer Pack so you can chase down the homies with your D-SLR more comfortably.

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Est. 1990: Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original skateboard magazine

PUBLISHER Kevin Harris EDITOR / ART DIRECTOR Kelly Litzenberger kelly@concreteskateboarding.com Managing EDITOR Frank daniello frank@concreteskateboarding.com PHOTO EDITOR / staff photographer Brian Caissie brian@concreteskateboarding.com Contributing Photographers Rich Odam, Andrew Szeto, Mike Stanfield, Kurina Owens Ian Beer, Aaron Smith, Kevin Lowry, Lex Kembery Henry Kingsford, Ian Twa, Sam McGuire, Hendrik Herzmann Keith Henry, Dylan Doubt, Reno Gagnon, Will Jivcoff Owen Woytowich, Joe Hammeke, Curtis Rothney, Deville Nunes,Joel Dufresne, Eirik Dunlop, Andrew Mapstone, Sam Fidlin Babas Levrai, James Morley, William Strobeck, Mark Whiteley

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Administration Dave Buhr associate designer Randy Laybourne lookforwardtothepast.com Contributing Writers Frank Daniello, Rich Odam, Andrew Szeto, Brian Caissie Jonathan Mehring, Shane Heyl, Ian Beer, Richard Sarrazin, Dane Collison, Nate Roline, Stacy Gabriel, Matt Berger, Nick Moore, Keith Henry, AJ McCAllister, Ben Stoddard, Mike Christie, Dylan Doubt, Anthony Pappalardo, Matt Hathaway

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Identity

William Strobeck

First skateboard?

A Valterra from K-mart that my aunt got me.

Favourite motion picture camera?

If I had to choose one, it would be my 16mm Bolex. I haven’t used it in like five years, but it’s really fun to work with.

Inspirational era in skateboarding?

The Alva years... I wasn’t around but the old footage looks like they were having fun and were very spontaneous. Second would be ’95 and ’96, east coast and west coast.

Best clip you’ve filmed?

william strobeck

William Prentice Strobeck grew up in Syracuse, New York and had a boiling pot of water burn his whole chest when he was a young. It’s a fucked up looking cluster of scars, and there’s a good chance you’ll never see it. If he likes how something looks, he’ll film it. Bill would rather waste his time doing nothing than film something he didn’t think was worth it. The amount of people he would actually pull out his camera to film is probably less than you can count on both your hands, and he could care less if you have a silver statue of a skateboarder humorously displayed on the mantel. Blessed with being purely unique and original, the shit that’s not for sale, he’s also self-made in the good oldfashioned way of just working hard. Bill sticks to what he believes in, and is one of the very few people I know who actually doesn’t have to change. —Anthony Salvatore Pappalardo

Best part about being a filmer?

The options are endless. I’ve filmed a homeless lady masturbating, and I’ve also filmed a beautiful woman putting on lipstick.

Worst part about being a filmer?

You’re on some else’s schedule sometimes... I’m antsy to get things done quickly.

New York City upsides?

You can walk down the street in your underwear here if you want. So many life options and different creative people. It’s fast-paced and there is a lot of money to make. Beautiful woman are everywhere.

There is more than one. Probably my friend JR topless with a spray paint can and fire coming out of it, or anything of Mark Gonzales.

Worst habit?