INS(oev)IDE #6 - My Favorite Photo of 2023
A long format essay exploring my history with skateboarding, including my perspective of the Britannia "courts", which culminates into the story of my favorite photo of 2023.
With the recent release of my 2023 book, a collection of 124 of my best portraits from the neighborhood, I’ve had the opportunity to reflect on all of the photos I have taken this year. Although my main SOEV project is based primarily on clothing and the diversity of people and style in the neighborhood, I really enjoy composing photographs apart from the “portrait style”, but rarely get to share them.
My favorite photo this year is one that I haven’t shared anywhere yet. The second I took this photo, I knew it was going to be special as the events leading up to it were beautiful. After I took it, I had written a quick draft of the story so I wouldn’t forget, but with a busy school year starting a couple of weeks after, I lost track of the photo.
At the time I took the photo I wasn’t writing this Substack, but with this new series, and now when writing this, being the end of the 2023 year, I decided it was finally time to write this.
The nature of the photo led me to explore my own relationship with skateboarding both as a skateboarder, and as an observer of the skateboarding community in Vancouver over the last five years.
INTRODUCTION
I’ve been fascinated with skateboarding since I can remember. My “origin” story is similar to many I’ve heard before. Being young and impressionable in the 90s in suburbia, seeing older kids skate in the neighborhood, gravitating to the rise of emo and punk music aesthetics flooding the TV, Transworld skateboard magazine being passed around from friends, combined with the dominance of THPS on N64, and a new West 49 at the local mall, it was not hard to get hooked on skating, or what you’ll soon read, the idea of skating, from a young age.
I am going to leave a few links before we get into it for people who may not care to read the entire background story.
Throughout this article, I will also sprinkle in some “skateboarding photos” I have taken during my time exploring the neighborhoods.
My journey in skateboarding follows this.
Then, I talk a bit about “the courts” and the skateboarding community in the neighborhood.
Finally, I get into my favorite photo and the story behind it.
My Background (I’m a shitty skateboarder, but I love skateboarding)
Early on, probably around age 10, I remember begging, and begging, my parents for a skateboard, and of course, they weren’t into it. Being more of a “baseball and soccer” type family, skateboarding seemed dangerous and they were quite hesitant to buy me a board (ironic considering the number of injuries and concussions I would eventually obtain through my time playing soccer). Luckily, although they resisted, I had parents who embraced me trying new things, and I knew if I kept asking, they’d finally give in. My aunt had an old banana board at my Nonna’s house which I’d adopted and I would practice riding around on, showing my commitment to this “new hobby” and as I was getting the hang of it, my parents finally decided they’d buy me a board. Unfortunately, it was with a piece of shit NASH board from Canadian tire with plastic trucks, entry level for someone who had never stepped on a board, fair enough.
My brother and I would skate around in front of the house, trying desperately to ollie up curbs, but to no avail. The deck barely had any pop, was likely too small for us, and the wheels wouldn’t let us pick up any speed. To make the experience worse, at the time we had no one around to teach us and for easily distracted pre-teens, it led to early frustrations trying to learn and we gave up as the winter months rolled around and Southern Ontario iced over.
Although the time on the board ended, the seed was already planted, and the culture, the video games, and my general interest, never left.
Fast forward a couple of years and a friend of mine down the street had a small ramp and rail set up in front of his house. I remember he was able to get up and 50-50 the rail down the driveway easily, seeing this, I was hooked again. Luckily, he had an old deck and let me borrow it. On top of this, a couple new kids came to my elementary school, and they were both skaters as well, and holy shit, they were good; power slides, kickflips, manuals down the block.
I had a lot of learning to do.
I remember heading to their house to try and master the ollie and get up on the rail using some plywood as an “assisting” ramp. They all were able to make it look so easy, but for some reason I just couldn’t catch up to the skill level they were at in the few short months we were skating ther.
Upon reflection, this was likely due to a combination of lack of persistence in learning, a bit of fear not wanting to get hurt (not wanting to prove my parents right…), and just a general lack of access to skate-able terrain. I had progressed at the time, but they were so much further ahead of me. Soon, they were heading to the local skate park on weekends and I was stuck again skating alone in my driveway. Without advice and a community, it was again easy to leave skateboarding behind.
Highschool and university led me to continue to skateboard on and off, and the “skateboarding community” I found in the Waterloo area was really focused on downhill skating at the time for some reason. I attended a few of those sessions, bombing hills and parkade’s was fun but, it didn’t hook me and after a couple close calls falling at high speed, I decided to cool it on the downhill. I continued to use skateboarding as a method of commuting when I could, but with a focus on studies and cold-ass winters, there was no consistency. Just at the end of my time in Waterloo, a new friend who street skated encouraged me to keep trying and we went out for a few sessions together, but I soon graduated and we went our separate ways.
In my early 20’s, after graduating university, I figured I was likely just going to be an outsider. I would attempt to go to a skate park again a few times, but I felt I missed the boat and wasn’t willing to continue to embarrass myself trying to figure out how to ollie again while 8 year old’s were kickflip mannying the box beside me.
Then, finally, after roughly five stops and starts, I re-found skateboarding one more time, which was in east vancouver.
Skating in Vancouver & The Courts
“The Courts” is a beloved DIY skate park in East Vancouver. I am not 100% sure of the true “origin story” but as I remember it, back sometime in 2017/2018, a crusty old tennis court started to slowly adopt small features, a tiny quarter pipe here, a plywood box there, until slowly, it became the skate destination it is today.
Since the tennis surface and nets were so busted and rarely used for tennis, skating started to become the number one activity at this location. In the early days it was mostly comprised of features left over from a skate demo that were being stored at Slice of Life and a plywood wall that ran the length of the area. The wall was intended to separate the dedicated “skate area” from the “bike polo area”. As with most DIY park's I’ve ever seen, it was a mashup of plywood, scrap metal, and old features, maintained by the folks who were there most, with occasional “resets” and “shutdowns” in the spring and fall. With the lights on late, it became a regular meeting spot for the skate community, and as the people came, the terrain improved drastically, eventually skateboarding would take over the entire court and its been that way ever since.
In my travels taking photos for my website, I used to walk by all the time and see one or two people skating, I’d often stop and watch for a while and attempt to snap a few photos as I was experimenting with my camera and of course, skate culture is one of the biggest influences when it comes to style in any neighborhood, but that’s a whole ‘nother article in itself.
While my “skate photography” definitely needed (needs?) work, spending more and more time at the courts watching people skate was the spark I needed to get back on the board one more time.
The more I’d go by there, the more I’d start to get the courage to talk to some of the people there, and everyone was so nice, even though they were probably wondering who I was and why the hell I wanted to take their photo. People I’d recognize from magazines or brands I followed would take the time to say what’s up and let me take photos without much care, it was amazing and so different than anything I’d experienced before.
I finally mustered up the courage to get back on the board, and while it took me a year or so of embarrassingly showing up there once or twice a week and easily being the worst skater at the courts from 2018 on, I fucking loved it, again.
Luckily for me I was in my early thirties by this time and let my ego take a back seat during this attempt at learning how to skateboard. I also finally had the patience with myself learning a new skill, understanding the time and energy required to “master” something. I put in a lot of time skating around my neighborhood, more time than I ever had before, and because I was starting to get encouraged and learning new things from fellow skaters when I’d go to the early morning sessions (thanks all), I was progressing faster than I ever had.
I continued to skate there through the pandemic and stop by any chance I could get to see who was around over the past few years, but since my daughter was born, my time skateboarding has dramatically been reduced, again.
But, the connections I’ve made through the courts has been amazing, Vancouver’s skateboarding community is mostly (I am only talking from my experience, and the things I’ve seen at the courts) open, diverse, accepting, and above all, encouraging and if you put the time in, it’s a really great place to be.
The reason for all this background is simply this; I learned so much during my time at the courts and the people there are so talented, inspiring, and creative. The people there taught me about my own learning process, persistence, dedication, creativity, photography, and most importantly, community and I am sure this won’t be the last piece of writing that starts with an ode to the courts.
Day after day people show up to those courts to support the courts, and one another. You will often see people show up with a case of beer or box of popsicles in the summer and hand them out to whoever wants one as they make their way to put their bag down. Piles of skateboards and gear often left with those who can share. Early morning skaters will clean-up after wild nights and people can be found repair skate-lite and plywood that has definitely seen way more action than it was designed for.
Without this being in the neighborhood, I don’t know if I would have gotten back into skateboarding again, and likely would not have ended up at the event in which the next section is about.
I am probably looking at this whole scenario with rose-coloured glasses, as I’ve also been a part of some of the struggles to keep the courts as what they are. With the Britannia Community plan in a new state of limbo, who really knows how much longer it will be there. That being said, the courts community continues to thrive to this day, with support from the VSC and (for now) the Britannia community center, with some key leadership, they have been able to maintain and develop a DIY spot full of character, charm, and of course fun.
Upon reflection, it was the community piece that was missing every time I attempted to get into skateboarding and I will forever be grateful for the patience and support I found at the courts.
All of this background finally leads me to the photo and what I believe to be a prime example of the generosity of the community.
My Favorite Photo of 2023
Before you scroll too much further, look back at the photo and take a second to find details. I challenge you to come back to it as you read.
What do you notice? Leave a comment below, I’m so curious to which details people would pick up on prior to reading about it.
SHOE PARTY AT STRATHCONA
Back in August 2023, Jenny Skateboards, Etnies, and Timebomb Trading had a shoe release event for one of my favorite skaters, Mikey Ray. They put on a BBQ at Strathcona Skatepark to enjoy the waning days of summer, a get together to have a couple drinks, skate, celebrate Mikey, and maybe win a pair of shoes.
I’ve floated around these skateboarding events in the neighborhood for a while now, popping in to catch up with some people, watch some great skaters, and try and snap a few photos. But on this particular day, I had mostly just been talking with some friends and hadn’t pulled out the camera as much as I regularly would.
About half way through the BBQ, Mikey got on the megaphone and called everyone to the basketball court. He started handing out single shoes for the crowd to attempt half-court shots. The concept was simple, hit a shot from half court with a shoe, and you win a new pair. Crazily enough, the first shot of the afternoon was drained and everyone went nuts…the guy walked away with his new pair of shoes and we all thought this little interlude wouldn’t take too much longer. The shot attempts continued, and continued… and continued. Short, long, wide, smashed into the backboard, person after person hucked a shoe trying to win a pair.
Finally, after what felt like an hour (was probably only 15 mins), Dylan Dillz drained a shot, the eager crowd roared and everyone gave him pats on the back and high fives. Instead of running over to Mikey to grab a pair of shoes for himself, he turned to find a younger skater who was skating at the event and was waiting in line for his next toss. After a quick exchange with the young man, he walked over, grabbed a pair of shoes from the box and promptly handed them to the kid.
Dylan disappeared back into the madness on the basketball court and shortly after, everyone continued to go on doing their own things, skating, throwing pairs of shoes, drinking beers and eating hot dogs.
I was watching all of this happen from the grassy area and the kid just happened to come over to where I was to look at his new pair of shoes. Glowing with excitement, he sat down to lace them up and I noticed the shoes he was wearing, they were busted up and definitely past their “prime”; great timing for a new pair. As he settled in and started to lace up the new Etnies, I looked closer, and there it was, a hole, about the size of a toonie, right underneath his big toe.
Did you notice it when you scrolled past the photo? Go back, you can see it perfectly.
I can’t remember for sure if he skating was regular or goofy, but regardless, a foot constantly on the grip tape or being used to push on the concrete is no joke. Not to mention the fact that if the shoe is that worn down, the lack of padding in the rest of sole likely left no reprieve for the constant impact involved in an afternoon of skating.
Sitting right behind him and watching this whole thing go down; I had to capture it, but, I have a general rule when I am photographing in the neighborhood…I strongly prefer not to take photos without permission…
The moment was passing so fast I knew I had to just take a snap, if I stopped to ask him, it wouldn’t have the same energy.
I quickly got out my camera and clicked a few times.
A few friends of his walked over and started chatting him up, he told them that Dillz had noticed and commented on his busted shoes earlier in the afternoon while they were skating. He continued to lace his shoes up, took a few pictures on his phone, and skated off. I didn’t get a chance to show him the photo as the moment ended so fast and I got distracted by some other acquaintances soon after.
I’ve only spoken with Dillz once or twice at the courts the summer prior, and I sent him the photo after I took it, and I hope he gets a chance to read this.
For me, this gesture speaks to much of the care and generosity I’ve seen and experienced in my time skating at the courts and other spots in vancouver that I wrote about above.
Maybe Dylan saw a bit of a younger version of himself in that kid that day, or likely it is simply something that’s engrained in the skate culture itself, it was just a gut reaction.
If you’re around enough, you start to see these moments all the time. Whether it is the free demo/BBQs put on by small companies, free boards and shoes being left at the courts, or the kind encouragement of skaters ten times better than you asking if you’re okay as you slam on the manny pad for the third time that day.
Although I’ve always attempted to stay pretty low-key when it comes to the “skate scene” in the city, I felt like I needed to tell this story when I was looking back on the photo at the end of 2023.
CONCLUSIONS
Of course this wouldn’t be an INS(oev)IDE without some photo analysis…
I love the photo for the story, which one would not be able to really know the depth of just by looking at it, but also, I really love the composition and the details that were captured in those quick seconds I decided to break my rule. The shapes of the elements in the photo, the colours representing the time of day and time of year, his entire aesthetic, from his Eminemesque hair to his baggy clothes reminds me of my own youth skating, listening to rap CDs in the driveway, attempting to 50-50 an ankle height rail. The way he is centered in the frame with the business of the afternoon still going on behind him, legs crossed in a zen state lacing up his new pairs of shoes framed by a couple skateboards.
The way I see it, he was embraced by an “elder” in the community that day and in a time where more people are getting further and further divided for a multitude of reasons, simple acts of kindness like this go a long way to those directly involved, but also, evidently those around. I am sure, if given the opportunity one day in the future, he will do something similar, and pass that energy forward.
Thanks for reading!
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been able to publish anything on here as I was traveling back in Ontario for the winter break. I have more GENEs interviews planned soon and hope to publish those in the upcoming weeks.
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That is my son Connor, he brought me and his little brother to that event, and it was probably one of our BEST days of 2023, I am so happy you caught a snapshot of this moment! Skateboarding is this kids life… you can check him out on insta https://www.instagram.com/scranny_connoy?igsh=bjBybW95YjMzcGU4
What I noticed most about the photo (before reading the backgrounder) was how focussed the subject is on the new shoes. The environment around them is so clearly busy and full of movement and noise (I see the uplifted arm of the blurred figure in the group behind the subject) and yet they're so much in their own moment. I remember feeling like that as a child and it made me think to maybe just try and let all the "noise" in my life go past me instead of get to me. Thanks for sharing about the generosity of the community and that moment; it's a beautiful story and we're so lucky you were the witness.