04. non-sport skating fire.
LE CERCLE, an art book by legendary street skaters Mark Gonzalez and Banjaman.
Good relationship between street, skate and photography.
Banjaman, Santiago, and the others said they did not know the names of the skaters in Paris who had excelled in the contest. It would still be bad if I didn't know. If they had given me such a look, I would still think that they were skaters from the next host city of the Olympics, but they didn't seem to be offended. The Banjamans' view of skating is that they are clear about their interests, and skating is something they put a lot of energy into pinpointing.
Of course, that's not all there is to skating. For Banjaman and the generation like mine that publishes Sb, it's just that street skating has been the main thing since the late 90s. In the days before that, the contests were exciting, and Christian Hosoi was taking the world by storm with his huge success in the Del Mar competitions. Even some of the Legendary Bones Brigade guys, led by Tony Hawk, made it big up through contests and exhibitions.
And today, major contests such as street leagues and the Olympics are in full swing. Contest-oriented skaters are once again attracting attention. For those who were poisoned by the jittery street skating and its culture in the 90's and early 2000's, the fun and coolness of street skating is eternal. And there are many such OGs in Paris. I mean, the skate scene in Paris has been growing since the 90's, and I feel that street skating has become the main stance of the scene.
Of course, smooth road surfaces and less stress on the streets may also be a factor. I would like to talk to Parisian skaters again around 2022, after the Tokyo Olympics. Anyway, today's Parisian skaters are still mainly street skaters. And there are few skaters who try to eat only skating, because they have no intention to make it big up in contests.
Most of them have a clear professional dream from a young age, so they just do their main job (if that's a misnomer) and skate like crazy, unencumbered by money or anything else. It's like that.
For example, Leo, a skater who studied photography in the south of France, works on the film set in Paris. Santiago, born in the 11th arrondissement, has become a prominent skater in the area, but his skating friends run a bar (medusa) and exhibit skating photos. Skating is just something they like to do. Come to think of it, not only in bars, but also in cafes, the skate photos hanging on the wall are all from the street.
It was the same at the bookstore (Ofr Librairie, galerie). I guess we are the kind of people who select street skating when we want to preserve skating in photos and artworks. Banjaman says. There are also the advantages of digital, such as Instagram. It's interesting that Leo and other Parisian skaters in their 20s, who are well aware of these disappearing qualities, are reaffirming the importance of books and paper as a record of their work.
It was indeed a historic city. There are many valuable old documents that cannot be incinerated. One day, I followed Banjaman to his favorite lab (Atelier Publimod). Waiting for the film to be developed, I stayed there for a long time chatting with the owner with a cup of coffee in my hand. During that time, many young people kept coming to the lab to submit their negatives.
The owner told me that developing and printing skate photos is one of the lab's top three sales. He added that Banjaman is number one among them. LE CERCLE," a collaboration between Mark Gonzalez and Banjaman, is a large-format photo of Banjaman printed at the lab, on which Gonz made drawings in his own handwriting, something that can only be expressed on paper.
And the next generation that grew up watching OG's style is creating a new skate magazine, Déjà Vu. We should not forget to mention the activities of Lisa, a girl skater. She has made a name for herself in Paris as a street skater, even becoming the subject of a skate photogravure. Lisa chose to volunteer instead of becoming a sponsored rider.
He has been building skate spots for kids to play for free in third world cities such as Montserbique and Tanzania. Last year, he released a self-published skate magazine, "Out Of The Blues. The photos and texts in the magazine are from his volunteer activities in various places. When you buy a copy of the magazine, you donate to the building of skate spots.
And for Lisa and the kids who continue to volunteer in cities far from Paris, the magazine is always available at skate stores in Paris. The Olympics will come to Paris in four years, but until then, Banjaman and other Parisian skaters will still have a lot of work to do to record and preserve their passion. Although the city will not be completely transformed like Tokyo. ......
Girl Skater self-publishes Out Of The Blues. Banjaman also regularly releases a collection of works called This Was Just Now.
