A Salute to the Masters: Skateboarding in Como (A Tribute to Bill Eppridge)

This article is written as a tribute to a great American photojournalist in occasion of the 50th anniversary of his reportage on LIFE Magazine about the skateboarding fever that had infected so many American boys in the ’60s. A joyful fever, in the streets as in the public parks.

Fifty years ago, on May 14, 1965, the famous photo magazine LIFE published a reportage about skateboarding by the American photographer, Bill Eppridge (1938 – 2013). Here, you can see the original cover of this issue, while this link will lead you to a series of 28 photos by Eppridge dedicated to this timeless past time.

Eppridge was one of the most important photojournalists of the 20th century. Born in Buenos Aires, he moved with his family to the U.S.A. during his childhood. He began to photograph at a young age. In fact, he was envious of his older sister, who was very skilled in painting, so he decided to compete against her in the artistic field. As a child, he asked her for instructions on how to use a camera.

As a student, Eppridge took many photos for his school newspaper. At the age of 15, he began to collaborate with a local newspaper, the Wilmington Star, as sports photographer. He graduated from the journalism school of the University of Missouri in 1960, and immediately after he was given an award at the 1959 NPPA Pictures of the Year competition. This allowed him to start a long career with LIFE, after a short cooperation with the National Geographic magazine.

Famously known for his photos of Robert Kennedy’s assassination, Eppridge also photographed many other important events of the American history: the Latin American revolutions, the Woodstock music festival, and the civil rights movement. He was also sent on assignment to photograph the arrival of the Beatles in the U.S.A. When LIFE stopped weekly publications in 1972, he worked for Time and Sports Illustrated magazines, covering the Olympic Games and the America’s Cup boat race.

I love Eppridge’s skateboarders series so much. It is full of joyful people and masterfully represents the collective fever for this fun past time in the ’60s. I decided to dedicate a series of my own photos to this great master, taken in my city, Como, and depicting a skateboarding contest held on a car-free day. All these photos were taken in September 2014 using my rangefinder Olympus 35 RC together with the awesome Lomo LC-Wide, both loaded with black and white film rolls.

A Salute to the Masters is a series dedicated to great photographers that I like. I posted other tributes for Walker Evans, Lee Friedlander, Helen Levitt, Ernst Haas, Stephen Shore, Gabriele Basilico, Robert Adams, Thomas Struth, J.H. Lartigue, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Frank, Gianni Berengo Gardin, André Kertész, Willy Ronis, Brassaï, Rodchenko, Dan Graham, Henry Grant, William Eggleston, Dennis Stock, Juergen Teller, Martin Parr, Peter Mitchell, Mario Giacomelli, David Burnett, Michael Williamson, Bernard Cahier, Harry Gruyaert, Bruno Barbey, Paul Strand, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Lothar Rübelt, David Goldblatt, Henry Cartier-Bresson, Raymond Depardon, Aaron Siskind, Mario de Biasi, Sabine Weiss, Jack Delano and Izis Bidermanas. I especially love street photography and urban architectural photography.

written by sirio174 on 2015-05-09 #lifestyle #black-and-white #skateboarding #italy #como #regular-contributor #bill-eppridge #a-salute-to-the-masters