Stunning black and white photographs capture the rise of the California skateboard revolution in the 1970s.
The never before seen images were taken by Hugh Holland, and are being run at the M+B gallery in Hollywood Hollywood as part of an exhibition called Silver. Skate. Seventies.
Holland gained his inspiration on an afternoon in 1975 when he drove up Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles and encountered skateboarders carving up the drainage ditches along the side of the canyon.
For the next three years Holland followed street surfers through Los Angeles, the San Fernando valley, Venice Beach, San Francisco and even Baja California, Mexico.
In his work he managed to capture the grace and ease at which the young street surfers worked with their boards to grip onto ledges, complete impossible-looking jumps and even ride upside down in a handstand.
The photos show how young people made the best of the California drought – turning evaporated swimming pools into their very own skate parks.
By capturing them in their natural habitat, without shoes and often just wearing a pair of shorts, Holland managed to show through the photos the gritty underground nature of the skateboarding revolution.
Stunning black and white photographs capture the rise of the California skateboard revolution in the 1970s
The never before seen images were taken by Hugh Holland, and are being run in a Hollywood gallery as part of an exhibition called Silver. Skate. Seventies
The photos show how young people made the best of the California drought – turning evaporated swimming pools into their very own skate parks
In many of the photos the young men are pictured in the heat of the California summer, wearing nothing but a pair of shorts and sometimes shoes
The skaters were willing to turn almost anything into a ramp. One teenager is pictured doing a turn at the top of a piece of wood he propped against his car
Holland gained his inspiration on an afternoon in 1975 when he drove up Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles and encountered skateboarders carving up the drainage ditches along the side of the canyon
Skaters seized any opportunity to ride through the streets of Los Angeles in the 70’s, using swimming pools, boardwalks and abandoned roads as their very own playgrounds
Many of the skaters rode their carbon-fiber lined boards without shoes – capturing the true gritty nature of the skating revolution
A skateboarder in Hollywood Hills looks at ease as he makes an impressively tight turn on his board, managing to bend all the way to the ground without falling
Middle-school aged boys sit outside a skateboard shop in San Francisco and watch on as one of their friends rides down the sidewalk on his elbows
A fearless young boy balances on his hands and kicks his legs out as he zooms around an empty parking lot in Del Mar
For the next three years Holland followed street surfers through Los Angeles, the San Fernando valley, Venice Beach, San Francisco and even Baja California, Mexico