002/surf/skate/snow/soul

Kosovo/a the first time Michael Fordham visited Kosovo with Stuart Freedman in November 1998 the Serbs ruled the region.

Keb Darge & other obsessional’s captured by Sam Harris

Dream of the concave Phil Knott in Seattle

Dogtown CR Stecyk’s seminal work on the streets of L.A.

Mute Lucy McLauchlan draws street fashion of the day

/ dream of the concave /

Anyone who knows Phil will tell you that he’s not the most organised man on the planet but he is one of its greatest photographers. He sent a collection of photos to Mike instead of me, but their quality was something neither of us could ignore. If you’re familiar with his work then you will know that he always carries something to capture images with, these days it’s an iPhone but in the last century it was cameras.

All the boys in the office always detested me using shots that showed skaters falling over, but sometimes these fuck-up photos were far better than the clean ones showing perfect, but dull tricks. The textural beauty of sky and concrete in this collection shot by Phil Knott in Seattle made me expect this level of aesthetic in everything I looked at from that moment.

/ do the dog /

Dogtown

Mr. Fordham could have been a very successful advertising salesman as much as I could have been a very successful advertising creative but fortunately for both of our souls we stayed in the editorial offices of the magazines we worked for. This feature on the legendary skate scene of Dogtown exemplified his skills at sweet talking great practitioners into letting us feature their work, without the usual associated day-rate that they should have been getting. CR Stecyk III has been superbly documenting the skate, surf and snow scenes since the 1970s and we were very lucky to have access to his archive. Originally having it on the flat plan as a six page article we started trying to edit this formidable collection and it became an eleven page feature.

/ soul obsession /

/ mute /

Illustrator Lucy McLauchlan was commissioned to illustrate a ten page fashion editorial of urban streetwear brands which was styled by Alison Curry.

/ kosovo/a /

Uncivil war

London born reportage photographer Stuart Freedman, was still a young pup when he travelled to war torn Kosovo with Mike to document how the countries youth were finding solace and optimism amongst the destruction of war. The result is a collection of work that is uplifting and full of hope from those dark times.