Tag: Skateboard Culture

Skateboarding is still growing and with that growth comes diversity. over the years our sub-culture has solidified its place and has become more normalized as an activity but with that being said there are a lot of boundaries that still need to be crossed.

Conversations about and role models relating to gender, race and sexual preference are starting to not only become a part of our culture but are getting their place in the spotlight. And that is a good thing because it is important for people of all walks of life to have role models they can relate to.

Unity is doing something interesting for everybody in skateboarding and therefore we believe you should get to know and love them.

Read the full article here

Photography Vivian Fu

Next Wednesday during the BRIGHT Tradeshow we would like to invite you all to our 10 Years Of PLACE Birthday Party at Strausberger Platz 19 in Berlin, Friedrichshain. But before we will raise the glass, we have a little teasing and quite special column for you guys. As a real flower child, Danny Sommerfeld unintentionally documented a few situations during a few more or less blurry party nights of the past year where every time not least the power of colorful plants made him hit the shutter release.

Photos by Danny Sommerfeld

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Back in the old days and still relevant today, the handshake is a synonym for an agreement, which is not official until both hands are parted. In this issue, we shake hands with people behind five brands from all over the world that are, in our eyes, totally different from each other and all pretty much rookies in the game. To transport the vibe of each brand we needed to get real insights. So were spending time with the founders, their cliques, and social environments, which, once again, makes the work we do and thus our product very personal.

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Bastiaan van Zadelhoff – BS 360 No Comply – Photo: Danny Sommerfeld

Pop – Low Country Aesthetics
“Now, if you hang out with this crew you might start believing that Pop is an acronym for People Owning Personality. Why? Because everybody has a strong personality and when they get together, everything gets amplified. It brought out the best in all of us and everyday was full of laughter mixed with “real talk” type of conversations…”

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Photo: Danny Sommerfeld

Hotel Blue – A Chat with Nick von Werssowetz
“Sometimes, a few missed connections can still lead where you need to be. The story behind this interview started when I got a text from a friend who was out in Montreal at the time. He sent me a photo of him together with Ayo (Alex O’Donahoel), who unfortunately happened to leave Montreal right before we got there. But as it turned out, Ayo sent a DM letting me know he would be in NYC for the next few days. So we connected when we got to the Big Apple…”

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Photo: Conny Mirbach

Alex Olson – Leave a Message
“That is what I heard when I tried to call (917) 692-2706, which we all know is the full phone number behind Alex Olson’s enigmatic board brand. I didn’t leave a message but I wanted to. Just to see if anybody would listen to what I had to say and maybe “they” would even call back…”

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Photo: Laura Kaczmarek

Europe Co. – A Ruhr Valley Continent
“The urban areas all have this rather modern architectural character with high-rise buildings, strict geometrical forms, and lots of concrete, steel, and glass. The cityscape tends to change at every street corner from snug to rough, from rich to poor, from vibrant green to gloomy grey. As I learned on my visit, this is exactly the environment the Europe Co. is rooted in.”

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Remy Taveira – Fs Wallride – Photo: Maxime Verret

Öctagon – Die Maschine
Following the Öctagon members on a visual adventure through the greatest machinery of humankind, the city.

The brand new PLACE issue 58 “The Handshake” will be available through skateshops, selected retailers and newsstands – some of the shops got the issue already, just ask!

Skimming through this issue, a couple of things might have become appartent to you. The biggest question you may have noticed us grappling with is what, in fact, is a portrait, and maybe even more importantly, what constitutes a good portrait, and why? As you continue to browse, you might come to multiple, various conclusions. Each one of these will be an important part of you journey back to this central question; you might find yourself becoming increasingly interested in the way you, the reader, and the people featured in this magazine are trying to relate to this theme of the portrait. Coming back to this question will put you in the same state of mind that we were while brainstorming for this issue.

What constitutes a portrait? The current, most direct way to create one is to take out your phone and take a selfie, a sign of the times once reserved for artists who took the time to recreate their own likeness using more analog forms of art production. Our portraiture inquiries were broad in the early phases of creating this issue: we wondered about objects, whether an object could be a portrait of a person. Could a bed, a MacBook, or an internet browser’s history also constitute a portrait? One could argue, in a sense, that more could be said about a person’s character by scrolling through the chronicle of websites they’ve visited than looking at the way he or she renders his or herself via self-portraiture.

Another important question we tossed around is how can a group portrait be made, something we, as the magazine’s stuff, tried to do. What if we were to hire a detective to follow our interview subjects around for a day? Would that work? Could someone else portray you, or would that create a portrait of you both, in tandem, the portrayer and the portrayed, simultaneously, together, in one piece? All roads seem to lead back to Rome, but that doesn’t mean everybody in Rome took the same route. And that is what we wanted to discover as we brainstormed our way to this article. Five people all received one and the same assignment: Create a portrait in your own way, think about the question, yourself and the medium of photography and create something, whether it be an answer or a reflection on the question.

by Roland Hoogwater

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Biemer – The Less I Know The Better

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Steffen Grap – Destiny/Hope

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Laura Kaczmarek – La Marbella

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Hugo Snelooper – Hangover

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Cameron Strand – Untitled

We first came into contact with Jun’s skating via Instagram, as well as through Leon Rudolph’s YouTube channel. Jun kind of stuck out for some reason—he wasn’t the best skater in the videos, but he seemed to be having the most fun. His personality shined through, which is much harder to find in today’s skateboard world than someone who can hardflip a 16. Not limiting himself to the realm of skateboarding, Jun also makes music and has established his own clothing brand called 송준sky. Clearly, he expresses himself a lot across mediums and industries. Rewinding back to a couple of weeks ago, we went on a trip to Bremen and got to meet Jun. We had the opportunity to see if he uses the internet as a tool to create that feeling of happy-go-lucky charm, or if it just comes organically. I think flipping through this issue provides you with the answer to this question. In a sense, meeting Jun felt like déjà vu, similar to when we met Franz Grimm, who we featured in our last issue. Although they are completely different types of guys, they both gave us a similar feeling: that good vibe that makes you want to join in and hang out for just a little while longer.

by Roland Hoogwater
Photo: Danny Sommerfeld

Well, for those who do not know, my name is Paul and I am working for PLACE since nine months now. So one might say I am still pretty new to the game. Nevertheless, I got my nickname “Placemagpaule” right at my first day at the office and it even developed to a frequently used hashtag on Instagram.

The coolest thing about my job is that I need to travel from time to time and as I have not really been around a lot before, most of the time, I go to see places I have never been before. This also applies for Copenhagen. So as Benni told me that one of us got invited by Levis Skateboarding to join the CPH Open series and asked me if I would like to go there, I of course did not hesitate.

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I stayed in Copenhagen for four days and I can say it is indeed a very beautiful city, which is not well-known for its quality of life for no reason. Besides the great architectural mix between old and new, the proximity to the sea, the good food and the friendly and open-minded mentality of the local residents Copenhagen also offers an uncountable number of skate spots. Moreover, most of the people in Copenhagen seem to enjoy or at least to tolerate skateboarding. The best example therefor is that one of the CPH Open events took place inside the historical city hall of Copenhagen, which would just be unthinkable in any other country I have ever been to.

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Evan Smith – Bs 540 Nosegrab

Unfortunately, I had bad luck with the weather conditions, which is why I could not be outside as much as I would have liked to. But still, there were enough moments I took off the lens cover of my Canon AE-1 and hit the shutter release. So welcome to the first episode of my personal Placemagpaule travel recaps!

Text & Photos by Paul Röhrs
On top: Brad Cromer – Fs Flip

“Carter it is fucking Friday the fucking 10th!” As we sat down to talk about our favorite Dill moments, we realized everyone seemed to love the intro from Alien Workshops “Photosyntheses” when Jason get’s a call from Chris Carter to put the heat on him to get footage because they wanted him to have “last part”. The rest is history. The Dill we met in Paris is a different one. You can almost say he seems to be grown up…in a very Dill way of course. This man is a good-looking, very polite man and one of the most influential figures in skateboarding worldwide. Jason Dill is leading the cool guys and everyone wants a piece of him. Here is a talk with the one and only Dill-Man about République, Bill and Paris in general.

by Benjamin Deberdt

There have been rumours going around Supreme was interested in opening a shop in Berlin. Is this ever going to happen?

That might just be a rumour… about a year, year and a half ago, I spent a little over a month there. I love Berlin. The Paris store is now open. We had a great opening and I hope people are happy to have us.

Who is the woman in the photo-print from your last FA Board?

The one and only Michelle. Passport photo, 2008. First loves last.

Does Chloë Sevigny have her board set up at home?

Yeah, she keeps it right by her front door so all her friends see it when they walk in… ha, no, I dunno. I know she has one or two of her decks…yeah Chloë, you’re the best!

Strobeck seems to be in love with this one Kid (Leo) from République. What is so different about the French youth culture?

Bill has a very large set of eyes. He sees little things that maybe most people don’t take the time to see. Actually what Bill does is meet a kid like Leo at République and tell him “hey, you’re pretty cool”. That goes a long way when you are 14 and an adult says “keep doing your thing”. He told me all about Little Leo– this epic kid I’m gonna meet at République. I met Leo and he said “Hey man” in a way that almost mimicked an American twang, and sure enough he was as cool as Bill said. We took him skating with us a couple times outside of République. Him, JB, and another kid from here, they’d just come skate if it was a mellow day. They say the funniest shit… Little Leo is just funny. He’s a good kid… Nos, the little guy at the beginning of the Pussy Gangster video is an epic epic kid. Liam and his brother Tom, August, all of the République kids. I just like how these kids live and skate and that they all have certain things that make them particularly special.

And what’s so good about République?

Anywhere there is one collective spot where people can skate near the center of any city is a good thing…and it’s Karl’s spot motherfucker. [Karl Salah]

So, could you see yourself living in Paris? Do you speak the language?

You know I don’t speak French, silly. Live here? Shit I’ve been here a month, I’ve got over two more weeks to go… I think I could live here though. I’m starting to get beat over the head with ultra modern Americanism at home: the pending elections, daily shootings in public, fuckin’ assholes all over the television and in the news, bad looks, freaked out faces… show me a populist city that’s not mega freaked out these days. I really like it here, although since I speak so little French, I get discriminated against for being American and not speaking French almost everyday here. I completely welcome it. It’s my fault for not knowing how to order a meal in the native tongue…only an American asks for extra ice. Hate me… Comme si comme ça!

How is it going out skating with Kevin Rodrigues?

Oh man Kevin is cool. I like Kev. Who doesn’t? He’s just doing his thing hard and running his own deal, I really like what he does on a board. I have had a really great time skating with him, Roman, Greg, Vincent, Manuel, Val, Alex, all them dudes have so much fun when we are out skating…it’s hard to explain and I kinda hate the word “fun”, but these motherfuckers have FUN…them Bloby’s. It was quite a filming trip here to Paris watching the FA kids from Sage to Nak to Tyshawn and KB skate with them. Made me feel old but happy for skateboarding’s future.

Who is your favourite European skater at the moment and why?

I’m gonna have to still pin that one on Lucas Puig…cause he’s really just too ill. He does it again and again. His tricks are like bullets or some shit.

The best thing about having a Supreme shop in Paris?

Lots of things. My old buddy Samir [Krim] being so heavily involved and his history alone when it comes to this city. Also just what will come of it being available to the younger dudes in the years to come…I think people will be surprised how it will develop over time. I’d like to thank Samir for telling me to come back out and film…thanks bud.

You look very healthy lately. Is it the French food? Haha.

I do? Ha, thanks, ummmm… I eat at Chez Justine a lot…shout out to Jon Monie (French skater and owner of the bar).

Benjamin Debert is a mainstay in the contemporary European skate scene. He runs Live Skateboard Media, a website that provides us with our daily doses of quality skate content. Scrolling through the site you catch a glimpse of Benjamin’s taste. Live is a platform for him to show that taste, albeit through his own work or through collaborative efforts.

We ventured out to meet him at his house, and once we entered the Parisian apartment, we started off doing the usual things: drinking coffee and tea, talking about the industry, and of course exchanging obscure skate nerd knowledge. What we did not expect was to walk into a museum of sorts. His living room walls are decorated with gifts – both attached to and positioned against the walls. His shelves are filled with books about photography, art, skateboarding or all three combined. His study is full of old VHS tapes and scanned and unscanned negatives are lying around dispersed throughout the space. What struck me the most was an old photo showing a group of NYC skaters, “that photo was shot on my first trip to New York in 1995.” Benjamin tells us, “Is that Quim Cardona?” I ask “Yeah! Did you know everybody used to call him Mini Gonz?” The truth is that we did not know.

But Benjamin was there for all that. He was there in the heydays of the Brooklyn banks and he was there when skateboarding landed in France. He started Sugar magazine and then he moved to London to work on Kingpin magazine. What I am getting at is that he has been around the block a couple of times and whereas most people get jaded he has not lost his appetite. He knows the up-and-comers and the legends personally, and if you are in Paris working on a project – like we were – he can be a helping hand when it comes to spots, people and stories. Even though he is not as mobile as he used to be, he is still out there in the streets with the same Nikon FM2 – the one that he bought on that first trip to New York back in ’95. Speaking about his FM2, he says he still exclusively shoots on film. We all know film is not getting cheaper but it is arguably still the best way to capture light. Even though Benjamin has said he is just too lazy to go digital, we have a hard time believing that. Benjamin is somebody who is vocal about his opinions and he likes the direction in which the Paris skate scene is moving: Away from the one crew one spot identity of the past and towards an always changing group of people that explores the Paris city streets in their own way.

by Roland Hoogwater
Photo: Danny Sommerfeld

One day in 2014, I was writing a letter to Daniel and I was complaining that he didn‘t tell me about that great trick he did close to Alexanderplatz. I was referring to that other video of him that hit the web out of the blue that day, which he also didn’t tell me that he had filmed nor when it was going to be released. He is such a mystery-monger and I was confused about it. I‘ve been working in the skateboard industry for 15 years and have had a lot to do with skateboarders and until today I‘m not used to such a modest understatement of someone’s own skills. I tried my best to learn how to handle his approach. Daniel really inspired me during the years and because of his calm attitude, he had a major influence on where PLACE Magazine is these days. Right now, we‘re really enjoying where we are. It‘s at a point that totally reflects how we see the great culture of skateboarding.

On this day I would love to proudly announce Daniel as the new Editor-in-Chief – because I guess by his own he wouldn‘t like to tell you at all. He‘s not the type of guy to put himself in the spotlight, but furthermore, he likes his talents to speak for themselves and he has a lot of those on and off the board. Expect a little wind of change, a fresh look, and a true expression of the PLACE gang‘s point of view. Dear Daniel, the word is yours.

Benni Markstein

Photo: Sommerfeld

Dear friends,
it’s time to celebrate again! We would like to cordially invite you to the release of issue 53, which will take place at the Our/Berlin distillery next to BRIGHT tradeshow in Berlin. For this occasion we teamed up with our beloved friends and created a limited edition collabo, which will be presented during the launch event at Our/Berlin. Spin the wheel of fortune, enjoy some tasty drinks and celebrate with us!

Yours,
PLACE & Our/Berlin

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PLACE x Our/Berlin – Issue 53 Launch
July 8th, 5PM
Am Flutgraben 2
Berlin

https://place.tv/tag/skateboard-culture
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