They treated the skaters as equals. (Leo)

Do you remember the first time you met Larry?

Leo:It was before "Kids," so it was the early '90s. Skaters don't trust anyone. When I was a teenager, skateboarding meant being an enemy of adults. The adults were always telling us, "If you skateboard, you're going to be a loser and you're going to go to jail!　They were always saying, "If you skateboard, you're going to be a loser and go to jail! But Larry was interested in skateboarders. I wondered why he was so interested in them, because he always came to watch them as if he were a supporter or a cop. Back then, skateboarders were never considered cool like they are now. The smart thing about Larry was that he was a well-known skateboard photographer.Tobin YellandThat I was in a row with. So we were recognized as an accessible presence in the skateboarding world, an already established artist over 50 years old, getting together with a 13 year old skateboarder, who was never good at it [laughs]. (laughs) But he treated us not as kids, but as equals. That was very important. Kids wanted to be treated as equals. That's what Larry did. He said, "It's not so bad to trust adults.

It's been more than 20 years since you met him, but has your impression of him changed?

Leo:Larry and I have probably spent the most time together outside of our families, and I have organized all of these art shows. I organize everything, from going to Larry's house and collecting photos that are scattered all over the floor. Larry is like a father to me, but a crazy father, you know what I mean (laughs)?　It's not easy to fully understand. I met Larry over 20 years ago, we made a movie together, and now we're doing these art shows together. That's what I think is really crazy, and it doesn't feel like 20 years have passed. The funny thing is, I have kids and Larry even has grandkids. Kids raising kids.

Even if communication methods change,
Kids will always be kids. (Larry)

How were the exhibitions in New York, LA, and London?

Leo:They were all very different. What was interesting to me was that the type of photos the clients wanted differed from place to place. So it is interesting to see what kind of photos people in Tokyo are looking for. The good thing about this art show is that you can decide for yourself which photos are good. In a traditional art show, there are a certain number of works on display, and you can say, "This is the good one! That's the good one!　But here, there are over 1,000 photos, and you can pick them up one by one and choose the one that really means something to you. And now, if you don't like the data, you can easily delete it, right?　But this box contains all the good photos and all the bad photos from the past 20 years. It makes sense to show both. It's a very nostalgic experiment, and I don't really care about sales, since when we held the show in New York, we only promoted it by word of mouth among skaters. I don't think Larry has anyone better than me when it comes to photographing teenagers, and there is a lot of change from the age of 13 to 19. From the age of 13 to 19, there are a lot of changes, like the loss of virginity, drinking, drugs, and so many other things that happen that are unparalleled in any other period of your life. So for me, in every city, the audience is important. It is not the reaction of the curator or gallerist, but the reaction of the visitor that is the most interesting. I have seen the photographs many times, but to see the excitement of the audience when they see them is the best thing.

Larry, you have been consistently photographing kids since the release of "TULSA" - do you see any difference between the kids of the 70s and the kids of today?

Larry:Kids will always be kids. But the world has changed. I was born in the 1950s and I'm almost 73. Everything has changed since then. Kids have access to all kinds of information on the Internet at any time, and if they have a question, Google will answer it right away. What is interesting for me is that the way of communication has changed, thanks to the Internet. A few years ago I made a film in France, The Smell Of Us. It's going to be released in Japan and the U.S. in 2017, and it's about kids getting into trouble because of the Internet. They post everything on the Internet right away. Drinking, drugs, sex, fights, bloodshed at parties. They video or camera everything that happens, and their every action is exposed in a natural way. They don't watch TV, they watch videos of their friends broadcasting to each other. They are constantly filming each other, and it's like friends are constantly monitoring each other. They are in the same room, but they are not talking to each other, they are texting each other on their phones. I thought the world has changed. But the kids are still the same.

Youth culture is making fashion. (Larry)

What do you think about the fact that youth culture has become a fashion trend in recent years?

Leo:That's a good question, since web media such as Hypebeast has made "Supreme" very popular. Maybe some people think that's strange. I grew up with Supreme, but now I am afraid to wear Supreme. I'm too old now. People would say, "Dad, why are you wearing that? I'm too old for that. But I think it's great that kids are getting into the fashion world. Because they have passion. But that doesn't mean they have to stand in line all night in front of a store to buy a product. It's interesting that kids want to design and make their own clothes. Whatever it is, I think it's good that kids have passion. Also, fashion has become very accessible. Anyone can make a sweatshirt at home with a silkscreen without having to take a proper course of study. It's amazing. It means that even small brands have potential. For example, my friend Cali Thornhill Dewitt makes a lot of Kanye West's clothes. I don't think most of it is good, but some people think it's cool! But there are some people who think it's cool. But I think it's good that products with ideas, like Supreme's box logo T-shirts, are feeling kids as something much cooler. That's why old guys like me should wear something else (laughs).

Larry:Youth culture has been a trend in fashion for a long time. Fashion is a commercial world, always stealing something from the artists. This is nothing new. For my 2006 film "Wassup Rockers," I cast poor Latino kids from South Central LA, an area of LA where white people never set foot, between the ages of 13 and 15. They were about 13 to 15 years old. They were just the way they are. They had long hair, listened to punk and rock music, and wore skimpy, tight clothes. The reason why they wear tight clothes is because they are too poor to continue wearing the clothes they have been wearing since they were kids. They can't afford to buy new ones. I told them at the time, "When this movie comes out, fashion designers will take your style and make tight clothes, and sell tight jeans for $600 or $700. And that's what happened. It's crazy. Fashion always steals styles from youth culture and art like that. It's true.

Lastly, what are you both interested in right now?

Larry:To make more films. Then there is painting. I would like to paint portraits of people.

Leo:I am interested in everything. New York has become gentrified and has changed from when I was born, but people from New York like to do research, read books, and are always looking for something different. They are never satisfied. That's the good thing about it. Curiosity is never ending, and I am always looking for something new. That, in my case, was art. Now I'm also interested in how we age. When I was a teenager, every day was crazy, and a lot of my friends died young. That's literary and easy, but it didn't happen to me. I lost the first part of my life. I didn't die young, and nothing happened to me. So I have to figure out how to age. It's a very interesting thing. How can I grow old without growing old? My mind is still in my 20s, but in reality I am already in my 40s. It's too big a question. But this is life.