Mind Over Matter: SUAS

Mind Over Matter: SUAS* is an ongoing column that aims to document skateboarders from all walks of life who are still riding their plank after 30+ years of age. My principal intent is to offer the viewer both an insight to why grown men/women choose to continue to ride despite being what many consider “too old” and to encourage the masses to get out and get theirs - whatever that might be.

*SUAS is an acronym commonly used in skateboard rhetoric, it simply means Shut Up And Skate! Click the image to view it super-sized. Enjoy.

The Brotherhood: Alex and I go way back. It wasn’t until the other day that I realized we’ve been skating together since we were somewhere around 12 or 13-years-old. We’ve shared a lot of history and thankfully he’s still around. About four years ago I reconnected with Alex. We hadn’t talked for some 20 years.

He moved to Richmond during high school and even though we wrote letters keeping each other in check about what new tricks we learned, eventually we lost touch with each other. Later, I vanished, traveling around the US and eventually moved abroad. Just before heading to the Middle East I called Alex out of the blue. I had heard from a friend that he was running a restaurant that he co-owned. We caught up briefly in our conversation but life pressed on and we never did have a chance to kick it.

About four years later I returned and made it a point to get ahold of him again. He hadn’t been skating for years and I made it my duty to get his ass on board again.

When he came out to the first session, with the D30 crew, it was like he had never stopped. His style and tricks were right where he had left them. A few days ago I saw him cruisin’ down the street and he popped an ollie, it took me back to our wonder years, nothing had changed. It was so surreal to find that a simple trick could trigger so many memories. Its hard to explain, but it did.

I should mention, I owe Alex some money or something, I think I burned his clutch out on his Datsun B210. That was many many moons ago, but how else was I supposed to learn how to drive a five speed? Homies for life.

Mind Over Matter: SUAS

Mind Over Matter: SUAS* is an ongoing column that aims to document skateboarders from all walks of life who are still riding their plank after 30+ years of age. My principal intent is to offer the viewer both an insight to why grown men/women choose to continue to ride despite being what many consider “too old” and to encourage the masses to get out and get theirs - whatever that might be.

*SUAS is an acronym commonly used in skateboard rhetoric, it simply means Shut Up And Skate! Click the image to view it super-sized. Enjoy.

The Brotherhood: When Sean and I first met we were on the up and up in the local Virginia Beach and Mid-Atlantic skate scene. Just a couple years into our teens and we both had already picked up a couple of sponsors. More often than not we were competing in contests up and down the East Coast, collecting our share of trophies along the way.

Throughout those early years, we always had an underlying competition against each other. Sometimes it was friendly but, I’m pretty sure we were hatin’ on each other. When we talk about that time in our lives we always get a chuckle about how things were back then. Regardless, Sean’s raw style always encouraged me to push myself and my skating. At every session we were always hyped to get down with the get down.

During our high school years, we were still riding hard and getting things done. However, we did spend many nights going out to parties and getting into a little trouble here and there. Summer days were filled with skating and the evenings were occupied with hooking up with the girls. We both had long hessian hair, I rocked a leather jacket and Sean always had some Eighties or early Nineties skate punk vibe going.

Today, some twenty or more years later, everything has changed, we’re both married, we leave trouble for the young bloods and we’ve traded our mop tops in for what little hair still sprouts out of our craniums.

But...we still get ours when the session is going. Homies for life.

Mind Over Matter: SUAS

Mind Over Matter: SUAS* is an ongoing column that aims to document skateboarders from all walks of life who are still riding their plank after 30+ years of age. My principal intent is to offer the viewer both an insight to why grown men/women choose to continue to ride despite being what many consider “too old” and to encourage the masses to get out and get theirs - whatever that might be.

*SUAS is an acronym commonly used in skateboard rhetoric, it simply means Shut Up And Skate! Click the image to view it super-sized. Enjoy.

 

The Brotherhood: I can't remember when I first met Ed. I think it might have been here, at the Dust Bowl, in the mid-Eighties. He pretty much ruled this spot and worked his style and speed lines around anyone who came to session it. Ed was/is an artist of sorts and at that time I had him paint the Dogtown logo on the back of my leather jacket. I was so stoked! I wore that jacket everywhere for years.

In the Nineties I lost touch with Ed. However, just before the millenium ended I took a photo class and ran into him again at the Visual Arts Center in Portsmouth, VA. He encouraged me to enter a portrait series I was working on at the time, into a local juried museum exhibition. I was hesitant but when Ed offered to frame the work for me I took him up on the offer. To my surprise the photo series was selected for the exhibition. The photographs also won best in black & white photography which in turn led to a feature write up about me in the local paper. Needless to say, Ed helped me along my way to becoming a working photographer. 

Today, after traveling much of the world as a photojournalist, I'm back in Virginia Beach skating a ditch with an old friend. Ironically, it's the same spot we rode some 25 plus years ago. Homies for life.

Coming to America: An Intrinsic Need

Coming to America: On September 29, 2011 I had severed my three years of time in the Middle East working for an English language paper. My time was up; I was homeward bound. All that kept me from my beloved country was a short 24 hour flight. From the moment I stepped onto American soil at Chicago O'Hare airport I started incessantly documenting my own personal coming to America. Visually, there was just so much that I had missed about the States. This series, Coming to America was born out of an intrinsic need to record my Americana.  The work is in its infancy and although I can pinpoint where it began, I don't know where it will end nor where it will take me. Come along for the ride. 

Click on any photograph to view in a slideshow format. Also, you can view my daily posts at my Instagram account @facun. Images made from April 25-May 5, 2012

How to Turn a Trick in less than 24 Hours: Dominion Derby Ad Campaign

Yesterday I was at the office neglecting some of my daily duties when the wife popped in after taking our baby girl for her regular health check up. She smiled and asked tenderly,

"Do you want to do the shoot today?"

Being the happy grump that I am I replied...

"Argh," with a slight tone of honey I love you. "I thought we were putting it off for another day?"

At that point, I looked up and saw her looking oh-too-glamorous and being a sucker for a pretty face, I agreed to her request.

Let me back up for a moment. Earlier in the week I had reluctantly committed to shooting the art for the Dominion Derby Girls' next bout poster. My wife convinced me after several gentle talks that we could pull it off with her as the model, me as the shooter and our house as the backdrop--what could go wrong?

That said, my only true reservation was that I didn't think our kitchen was vintage enough to complement the idea "Speed Stick," an All Star jammer + designer for the DDG, had suggested. The last thing I wanted was to end up with a photo that looked like some photo-geek hack was trying to make something out of nothing and failed epically--that would be dreadful.

Anyway, once I got over myself, I moved forward and then forgot about it, until yesterday that is. I knew Speed Stick needed art and fast so Jasmine and I made it happen. 

After a road trip to Rhode Island for a bout with Providence Roller Derby last weekend, Speed Stick and Jasmine had plenty of time to brainstorm the concept and plan. This actually lent itself to the success of the shoot. (I can't emphasize enough the importance of planning and defining a clear concept and how it benefits the outcome and efficiency of a shoot. Art Directors, photo editors, etc, take note.)

During their conversation Speed Stick expressed that she wanted to pursue a vintage theme, something Fifties-ish. From there, they found an old VW Beetle ad and were inspired by a line in the copy of the ad: "Women are soft and gentle, but they hit things." That line carried over into the final bout poster. 

               

When Jasmine told me more about the general concept, I suggested we have her holding a big rolling pin. Thankfully, my mom has a collection of, well everything, so Jasmine ran over and picked through mama's goods. Low and behold, the perfect utensil for our shoot. A big ol' rollin pin with a red handle.

Now that we had most of what we needed, besides a budget to work with, I got my gear together. Jasmine staged our kitchen, threw on an old dress she's had since high school, cleaned the floors, put the dog out and set our kids up with things to keep them occupied for as long as possible. Thankfully, she's a vintage enthusiast so she scoured our house, picking up various pieces for background props.

For reference and inspiration we looked at advertisements in a LIFE magazine from 1953. We also liked an old tin RC ad, and I spent some time studying the poses, body language and lighting of a vintage catalog an old friend of mine had given me.

                   

               

We shot for about 20 minutes and edited as we worked. Jasmine found a few frames that she felt fit her vision and that would coincide with Speed Stick's design and initial idea. 

Before sending the final file Jasmine and I tweaked the image in Photoshop to give it a slightly painterly presence. We wanted the viewer to look at the photo closely and question whether or not it was a photograph or a painting, much like the hand painted black and white ads from the Fifties.  The effect is fairly subtle. 

   

Once everything was said and done we sent the art off to Speed Stick. I also shot a little sneak peak of the photo and posted it on Instgram and Facebook to see what kind of response I'd get. (I was still a little hesitant as to whether or not we pulled off the shoot.) The numbers were positive, phew!

This morning we received the design for the DDG's poster. I think it works! Thanks to my lovely wife Jasmine and DDG's Speed Stick for getting me involved in the project. All shot + designed in less than 24 hours.

Mind Over Matter: SUAS

Mind Over Matter: SUAS* is an ongoing column that aims to document skateboarders from all walks of life who are still riding their plank after 30+ years of age. My principal intent is to offer the viewer both an insight to why grown men/women choose to continue to ride despite being what many consider “too old” and to encourage the masses to get out and get theirs - whatever that might be. 

*SUAS is an acronym commonly used in skateboard rhetoric, it simply means Shut Up And Skate! Click the image to view it super-sized. Enjoy.

Mitt Romney: for The New York Times

Covering political campaigns, Republican or Democratic, is always interesting. There's something very Americana and biblical about the gathering of the people, the clamoring of hope, the need to believe in someone greater than themselves, the politician - the shepherd gathering and leading his flock to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The following images are from Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney's stop in Portsmouth, VA.

*Click on any photo to launch slideshow and view images larger.