The last 2 summers I’ve been going down to the new skate park at Chelsea Piers to photograph the people there. The dynamic is an interesting one. The environment is territorial, yet welcoming at the same time. Despite the fact that some do not like the guys on skates and some don’t like the guys on boards, there is a true respect for the challenges they choose to conquer irregardless of the method. Looking around, its not just the thrill, or the being away from the parents, job, or whatever controls them, but like most humans they seem to skate for their own sense of freedom in a world of what seems like never-ending methods of control. For the most part these are people who decide to face their fears head on without regard for the pain. Concrete doesn’t leave any room for forgiveness.
