Apr 8, 2014 | Clippings, Portraits, Society, Sports, Youth
I am very excited to announce that my portrait of Fat Baby is currently gracing the cover of The New Republic. Last fall I traveled down to Chongqing to photograph what would become the turning point in the season for the Dockers, the city’s first American football team. Fat Baby was one of the many characters involved in the ups and downs of this amazing venture. I usually provide a short summary of the articles I shoot, but this one needs to be read in its entirety. Chris Beam does an amazing job capturing the absurdities and struggles of this band of warriors. It’s an excellent look into some of the mutating facets of contemporary Chinese culture. It’s so good, in fact, that Sony Pictures bought the movie rights to the story. Maybe you will see Fat Baby on the big screen one day. Definitely a sports star for the ages.
May 9, 2011 | Sports, Youth
This past month I made a few visits to Wuhan to check out their hip hop scene. Much like Beijing, there are a lot of connections between various alternative music and sporting communities. Many of the MCs in Wuhan are also avid skateboarders, including MC Big Dog/大狗, the top freestyler in Wuhan and three-time winner of the Iron Mic. On my final night, MC Big Dog hosted the first skateboard night at Vox Livehouse, the preeminent music venue and club in Wuhan. It was a great evening of friendly rivalries and other shenanigans. The portraits below are the bulk of the competitors who took part in the evening activities. These are some of the faces of Chinese adolescents who are breaking boundaries in urban areas around the country. Wuhan is an incredible place with a very thoughtful and forward thinking youth movement. They stick to their guns and abide by the Vox Livehouse motto: Voice of Youth, Voice of Freedom!
Mar 6, 2011 | Sports, Youth
My first day in Jakarta (and Indonesia for that matter), I decided to hit up the typical tourist spots like the National Monument and the old city district known as Kota. Expecting a melody of crumbling colonial architecture and dusty museums, I was pleasantly surprised to wander upon a BMX trick competition being held in the central square. In many ways this discovery typified the rest of my trip across Java. In every city Indonesian youths were organizing events and competitions to support their often-offbeat creative and sporting outlets. Although Indonesia is often stereotyped as a restrained and conservative place, the largest Muslim nation is actually brimming in energy as youths seek out alternative lifestyles.
Jan 26, 2011 | Sports, Youth
Nanshan is making a big push this winter with more and more kids strapping on snowboards and taking to the slopes. Although Nanshan might be an over-glorified hill, it is still home to one of the best snow parks in China and remains the closest one to Beijing. Every year it hosts The Red Bull Nanshan Open, now considered a top-level slopestyle competition, and attracts snowboarders from around the world with its large cash purse. Otherwise, it has been hosting a series of events called the Nike 6.0 “Five Gates” Jam Series which, “replicates the historic Three Kingdoms story of a captured General and the five gates he had to fight through to return to his rightful home and family – in this case replacing gates with obstacles and battles with jam sessions!” Quite an interesting way of incorporating Chinese history into a snowboarding event. All the same, it is bringing more and more snowboarders out to Nanshan and helping pave the way for yet another extreme sport in China. I predict we will be seeing many more visits like Shawn White’s during the Air & Style competition in the coming years. These photos were taken at the first Nike 6.0 “Five Gates” Jam Series event entitled The Ledge. There are still two more events left on February 12 and 26 at Nanshan. Catch a bus and head for the hills.
Dec 13, 2010 | Sports, Youth
A forty-meter high kicker was built in the Olympic Sports Center Stadium in Beijing for the Air & Style snowboard competition presented by Shaun White and Oakley. Probably the largest alternative/extreme sports competition ever to be held in China, it broadcasted live to an estimated fifty million people even though the stadium was less than full. Apparently the Public Security Bureau clamped down hard before the event and there was little to no promotion in terms of ticket sales. Those with VIP status were also supposed to maintain their seats the entire event even during the live performances by New Pants and China’s largest pop superstar Wang Lee Hom. Oakley and many other sports brands see Air & Style as the beachhead from which the entire snowboarding industry can enter China. With the widespread construction of new skiing and snowboarding resorts across eastern China there is a lot of hope for snowboarding to catch fire amongst China’s youth. Letting China’s top snowboarders appear with some of the best in the world on national Chinese television is a good start.
Nov 22, 2010 | Sports, Youth
I just had the pleasure of visiting the newly-minted Woodward Beijing skateboard and freestyle BMX park that opened its doors to China this summer. Although it is a pain in the ass to get down to the southern sixth ring road, Woodward Beijing truly is a state of the art facility and will hopefully nurture a new wave of talented skateboarders and freestyle BMX riders in China. These sports are just taking hold in cities and major brands like Vans, who sponsored the evening by driving down two busloads of kids for free, can only see rising interest amongst the growing pool of urban hipsters and punks around the country. Even though I didn’t get in on the action myself, I was greatly intrigued by the possibilities of the giant foam box pit that freestyle BMX riders used for practicing aerials. Next time I might find myself rocketing skyward on a bike. For now the only problem I can foresee is consistently getting kids that far outside the city to partake in everything Woodward Beijing has to offer. On the up side, large-scale summer camps are being planned which is the real bread and butter for Woodward in other locations around the world.
