Join The United Skateboard Photography Project!

If you have been following Europeskate for a while then you know about the Europeskate Photo Of The Day Series.

In December 2012 I had the idea to create a new dedicated skateboard photography site as well as a 300-page hardbound book/mag called the “United Skateboard Photography Project” featuring 50 skatebaord photographers from around the world + interviews with top professional skateboard photographers. The idea and concept have grown, the feedback is already incredible and now I need your support. This is your chance to have your skills shown to a large audience around the globe and here’s what you need to do:

- I’m looking for skateboard photographers (new and already featured Europe Photo Of The Day photographers) to create portfolio pages on the the “United Skateboard Photography Project” which is ready to go. Just send me a mail at info@unitedskateboardpp.com to let me know you are interested!

- All photographers who join up have a chance to be a part of the preliminary photgraphy viewing and be a part of the “United Skateboard Photography Project” book/mag which is a 300-page hardbound book/mag (9.65 inches width x 13.0 inches height [24.5 cm width x 33 cm height] colr matte finish) with every photographer being featured on 4 pages with a short Q&A + contact information and of course your skate photos.

- 5,000 books will be printed in the first run with 50% of the proceeds going to a skateboarder-backed charity foundation (I’m in the middle of talks and I should be able to announce the foundation in the next couple of days)

- To support the book development, printing, travel costs, shipping etc. 50 pages of advertising s available in the book and I’ll be running a Kickstarter project for which we’re currently filming a short video clip.

I need your support and feedback to contact me at info@unitedskateboardpp.com to get involved. Planned release date as of today is September 2013!

Europeskate Skateboard Books – New Skateboard Graphics

J. Namdev Hardisty put together this great book “New Skateboard Graphics” which gives us a look at all the newer graphics happening right now. Well thought-out, very diverse, and no bias to certain brands. there’s more than a dozen interviews with Jamie Thomas of Zero/Black Box distribution, Mark Nardelli of 5Boro, Kelly D. Williams, Winston Tseng of enjoi, Michael Sieben, Jahmal Williams, etc.

Skateboarding grew from a Southern California hobby born out of surfing to a nationwide trend, and has since developed into a visual style. While the bottoms of skateboards have always been adorned with graphics, back in the day only a handful of skateboard manufacturers existed. Today, vast amounts of visuals are created for skateboards, with more than 40 major brands in the market. Because of how the sport has grown, however, many of these graphics are used for only a season, and then are forgotten about – until now. From spreads of full-board designs to detailed crops of patterns and graphics, New Skateboard Graphics features the best, most innovative work going on today. Interviews with designers and creators of major brands help elucidate this colorful phenomenon.

» View the entire skateboard book selection on Europeskate by clicking here!

Europeskate Skateboard Books – Cliche: Resume A Decade of Skateboarding in Europe

Cliche: Resume spotlights the largest European skateboard brand from its establishment in 1997 in the days of VHS and polaroid to the present. This epic volume features skate photography from inside the crew, and is packed with wicked shots of kickflips, ollies, wallrides, and front nosegrinds. The book follows Jeremie Daclin, founder of Cliche Skateboards in France, and the heart and soul tactics needed from the early days with no money, investors, or even employeesfrom the days of a VHS sponsorship request from then-unknown Arto Saariand ranges from Athens, Greece, to NYC, to Sardinia, Italy. Interviews, polaroids, and street tales of camping tents inside sewer tunnels, rental van tours, and home-cooked meals even the Gypsy Tour 1, a skateboard Survivor-style challenge to Cliche skaters of touring with no lodging and only 10 euros a day with serious mayhem resulting.

» View the entire skateboard book selection on Europeskate by clicking here!

Europeskate Skateboard Books – Made For Skate: The Illustrated History of Skateboard Footwear

In the skateboard universe the evolution of riding technique, skateboard decks, graphics and art are well documented. Until now, however, skateboard shoes have received little attention. Made for Skate tells the story of skateboard footwear as seen through the eyes of those who lived it. Along with the classics by companies such as Vans, Airwalk, Etnies, and Duffs it features hard-to-find and one-of-a-kind shoes that emerged throughout almost five decades of skate history – all photographed superlatively. “Made For Skate: The Illustrated History of Skateboard Footwear” provides an exhaustive overview of the history and styles of skate shoes and is based on the collection of the Museum of Skateboard History in Stuttgart, Germany. Discover, for instance, why the legendary Bones Brigade had to scrounge for shoes at the height of their fame and how key design features such as the lace saver provided protection and functionality. Skate personalities we meet include Stacy Peralta, Lance Mountain, Tony Hawk, Rodney Mullen, Steve Caballero, Natas Kaupas, Don Brown, Paul Rodriguez, Chad Muska, Mike Vallely, Adrian Lopez, Mark Gonzalez, Tim Gavin, and many more. Shoe designers featured include James Arizumi, Jeremy Fish, Andy Howell and Todd Bratrud.

Born and raised in Wiesbaden, Germany, Dirk Vogel has written the text for “Made For Skate: The Illustrated History of Skateboard Footwear” created and produced by Juergen Bluemlein and Daniel Schmid at the Museum of Skateboard History in Stuttgart, Germany.

“Made For Skate” chronicles the history of skateboard footwear in the words of influential skateboarders and shoe designers. The +400-page coffee table book reveals many previously untold chapters of skate shoe history through exclusive stories and interviews.

Dirk has been writing for international skateboarding publications since 1994, including editorial positions at Kingpin magazine (Europe), Limited magazine (Germany), as well as contributions to magazines such as Monster MSM, Place, Avenue and Sugar. He has worked as a newspaper reporter and magazine writer, copywriter in advertising agencies and localization editor at The Pokémon company.

He is currently a contributor to European Boardsport Source magazine, Sneakers magazine and Place magazine and lives in Seattle, WA with his wife. For additional information, please visit his website, www.dirkwriter.com

» View the entire skateboard book selection on Europeskate by clicking here!

Europeskate Skateboard Books – The Impossible: Rodney Mullen, Ryan Sheckler, and the Fantastic History of Skateboarding

Skateboarding: the background, technicality, culture, rebellion, marketing, conflict, and future of the global sport as seen through two of its most influential geniuses. Since it all began half a century ago, skateboarding has come to mystify some and to mesmerize many, including its tens of millions of adherents throughout America and the world. And yet, as ubiquitous as it is today, its origins, manners, and methods are little understood.

The Impossible aims to get skateboarding right. Journalist Cole Louison gets inside the history, culture, and major personalities of skating. He does solargely by recounting the careers of the sport’s Yoda—Rodney Mullen, who, in his mid-forties, remains the greatest skateboarder in the world, the godfather of all modern skateboarding tricks—and its Luke Skywalker—Ryan Sheckler, who became its youngest pro athlete and a celebrity at thirteen. The story begins in the 1960s, when the first boards made their way to land in the form of off-season surfing in southern California. It then follows the sport’s spikes, plateaus, and drops—including its billion-dollar apparel industry and its connection with art, fashion, and music.

In The Impossible, we come to know intimately not only skateboarding, but also two very different, equally fascinating geniuses who have shaped the sport more than anyone else.

» View the entire skateboard book selection on Europeskate by clicking here!

Europeskate Skateboard Books – Skateistan The Book

I would like to share with you all the possibility to support a great cause which has been helping the youth in Afghanistan to participate in skateboarding through the Skateistan effort. Always hard at work, the organization has released a beautiful book which describes the wonderful effort in words and photos which we can easily support by ordering a book for ourselves and our loved ones. Here’s the description of the book straight off of the Skateistan website and you can order / pre-order here:

» Outside of Europe pre-order through the Skateistan website!
» In Europe you can order the book through IrieDaily!

Skateistan: The Tale of Skateboarding in Afghanistan shares the strange and beautiful intersection of traditional Afghan society and a new generation of Afghan skateboarders and artists. It features the innovative Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) ‘Skateistan’, which since 2007 has taught skateboarding and creative arts to girls and boys in Kabul, Afghanistan.

Skateistan’s opening of the country’s first skatepark – and focus on working with Afghan girls and streetworking youth – has been covered by major media outlets worldwide, including CNN, BBC, Al-Jazeera, and the New York Times. Skateistan: The Tale of Skateboarding in Afghanistan is the very first book about the subject and gives a rare, in-depth look into the lives of exceptional young Afghans facing incredible challenges in a city that is torn by war, but also full of life.

This 320-page color book features stunning, previously unpublished photographs accompanied by essays, interviews and personal stories from Skateistan’s founder Oliver Percovich and the young Afghans that have gone from being students to teachers in the skatepark and classrooms. Full of hope, beauty, gritty honesty – and skateboards! – this is a story about Afghanistan that you won’t find anywhere else.

Book Sponsored by: The Kindle Project and the Danish Embassy in Kabul.

The book was designed by Skateistan’s Art Directors Alexandra Bald and Ana Lessing who are part of the C-D-A-P collective, which will also be organizing the release event.

» View the entire skateboard book selection on Europeskate by clicking here!