by Glen E. Friedman (Author), C. R. Stecyk (Author)
"DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys is a stunning book that blends historic words and reports with a photo archive that has a golden shelf in the annals of skateboarding." --SurferToday, One of the Best Skateboard Books of All Time
In the early 1970s, the sport of skateboarding had so waned from its popularity in the 1960s that it was virtually nonexistent. In the DogTown area of west Los Angeles, a group of young surfers known as the Zephyr Team (Z-Boys) was experimenting with new and radical moves and styles in the water, which they translated to the street. When competition skateboarding returned in 1975, the Z-Boys turned the skating world on its head. DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys is a truly fascinating case study of how an underground sport ascended in the world. These are the stories and images of a time that not only inspired a generation but changed the face of the sport forever.
This volume has been described as "the DogTown textbook" and an indispensable companion piece to the Sony Pictures Classics film Dogtown and Z-Boys. Now spanning 1975-1985 and beyond, the first section of the book includes the best of the DogTown articles written and photographed by C.R. Stecyk III as they originally appeared in SkateBoarder Magazine. The second half compiles hundreds of skate images from the archives of Glen E. Friedman--many of which appear in the movie. (Stecyk and Friedman acted as executive producers and advisors for the film.)
The bigger, newly designed edition of the book includes many never-before-seen Friedman photos, along with a new postscript by Stecyk.
Author Biography
Glen E. Friedman, one of the most important photographers of his generation, is known for his influential and iconic images of rebellious artists from classic skateboarding, punk, and hip-hop cultures. As a true artist his process was much more incendiary than it was documentary. Friedman, first published at the age of fourteen, has produced over 100 record covers, countless magazine pages, and almost a dozen books, including DogTown: The Legend of the Z-Boys. His work is now included in a number of notable international collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Smithsonian Institution.
C.R. Stecyk III is the DogTown godfather. He is a seminal figure in the skateboarding and surfing worlds as a writer, photographer, museum-collected artist, and one of street culture's chief architects. He is cofounder of Juxtapoz magazine, and one of the earliest iconic inductees into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame. Stecyk is a Southern California native.