Locals Only

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From the Publisher:

One afternoon in 1975, a young photographer named Hugh Holland drove up Laurel Canyon Boulevard in Los Angeles and encountered skateboarders carving up the drainage ditches along the side of the canyon. Immediately transfixed by their grace and athleticism, he knew he had found an amazing subject. Although not a skateboarder himself, for the next three years Holland never tired of documenting skateboarders surfing the streets of Los Angeles, parts of the San Fernando Valley, Venice Beach, and as far away as San Francisco and Baja California, Mexico. During the mid-1970s, Southern California was experiencing a serious drought, leaving an abundance of empty swimming pools available for trespassing skateboarders to practice their tricks. From these suburban backyard haunts to the asphalt streets that connected them, this was the place that created the legendary Dogtown and Z-Boys skateboarders. Indigenous to Southern California, these rebellious, daring, and highly skilled kids were at the forefront of this burgeoning sub-culture.

The resulting photographs live on today in this exciting book, LOCALS ONLY, a beautifully designed, large-format photography book featuring some of the most quintessential images ever made during the earliest days of skateboard culture. With their requisite bleached blonde hair, tanned bodies, tube socks and Vans, these young outsiders are masterfully captured against a sometimes harsh but always sunny Southern California landscape.

LOCALS ONLY features more than 120 large-format color images plus a Q+A format interview with the artist.

My Thoughts

I love photography but apparently I do not love photography of skaters taken in the 70’s. I know, something must be wrong with me, right? I was trying to broaden my horizons. Well, that didn’t work well.

Of course, that my have been because my daughter was looking over my shoulder asking why I’m looking at half naked teenagers on motorcycles. That’s just a guess, mind you.

Anyway, the pictures were good for 70’s shots – you know the funky colors, hairdos, and tricks. They were good shots and if this had been published in the 70s I’d have said it was terrific… but it’s not and it sort of just reminded my of my high school scrapbook. I enjoyed flipping through it but I won’t be picking it up for my coffee table any time soon.

** Many of the books I review are Advance Review Copies. These books are loaned to me for my review. I am in no way compensated for my time nor am I asked to give anything but my honest review.

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