A random recent review...
As a fan of Baudelaire, it is only natural I would share his artistic taste.
So, like him, I believe great works are compromised of artists embracing their environment while attempting to capture its unadulterated essence. I have been exposed to the work of a couple of photographers who embrace what I have just spoken of. Back in the early 90's they set off to literally blaze a trail on their rollerblades taking pictures unlike any style seen before, or since.
The Blades Project brilliantly captures the idiosyncratic motifs of the Hollywood underbelly. All walks of life are displayed, from tourists mesmerized by the star walk, to the jaded souls lost by the temptations of the seductively ferocious neighborhood. With a display of lure and grit existing next to each another, they successfully captured the spellbinding essence of the Boulevard. Strapping on their skates, blading on every inch of pavement with pocket cameras in hand, freestyle shooting from the hip, and the only goal of not stopping to frame a shot; Karl Owens and D. Green seized what I think to be the most riveting street photos ever seen.
Since they had no agenda or restriction it was possible for them to be entrenched in the moment. This lack of agenda is exhibited by the honesty in each photo.
By shucking photographic convention, they were able to create a deviously wonderful collection that captures a Hollywood some would like to forget. But, to forget ones history hinders the ability to appreciate and understand the cultural identity of the world that surrounds them. Therefore, through their commitment to honest documentation, they have crafted work of aesthetic and cultural value.
How this work has been under the radar all these whiles is bewildering; lucky for us time has come to surface!
...Justin, formerly of The Traveling Gentleman.com
(current whereabouts unknown)
OVERVIEW
In the early 90's Karl Owens and I met in LA through a mutual friend from film sets. Both being shutterbugs we yearned for a more original and independent form of shooting.
When roller blades first came out we spent some fun days down hilling in the Hollywood Bowl parking lot and getting towed back up the hill by holding onto the bumper of a car. One time in tow we spoke of how cool it would be to blade and shoot on the fly with the only goal being not stopping to frame a shot. The only problem was we didn't want to use SLR's in case of a crash or being distracted with bulk, settings, etc.
Karl had an Olympus 110 and suggested we use pocket cams instead. That was a lightning bolt! Yes of course! If damaged in a crash they weren't expensive to replace, and we had the freedom to roam the streets unencumbered!
We tried to encourage our mutual friend to join, but he thought they were nuts, hitting the streets like that with no protective gear, shooting at night with a flash in peeps faces, and on Hollywood Blvd!
Well that was the whole point! The streets. The real thing. The spontaneity. Whatever would be was,
and the scenarios could not be fabricated!
We had no point of reference from previous docu-style work, this was photo-verite and we felt and still feel the style was pioneering. No others were out rollerblading and shooting Hollywood from the underside, the side that gets glazed over by the Entertainment machine. That is what truly inspired us. The chance to be unabashedly unique.
With the concept in place, we had no clue how the pix would turn out, it was the ultimate photo experiment. Karl was well versed in darkroom so he constructed one in his kitchen. The 1st night we took off down the hill from his pad at Carmen Place and Gower was such a rush!
To our best recollection we each shot 1 roll of film. We returned, uphill, in the wee hours, exhausted and a bit dazed, but getting into processing and printing got us going and totally juiced about the experience. The first image out of the bath that really struck us was Blade 14 - The Clown. It was spooky. At the time of this writing, even after all these years, Karl's shot still brings chills.
We knew they were really onto something. The speed combined with freeze of flash made for great angles and lighting. And the kinetic, abstract context profoundly spurred us on to even more adventurous nights.
We are stoked to have finally gotten back to the project and get it out for the world to experience. We hope everyone, especially street photographers, are as galvanized as we were by what was
seen and shot - the randomly raw and remarkable side of Hollywood Blvd - frozen in time by blazing speed, flash pop and blink of a shutter!
Peace Yawl!
D. Green
