Last Days of Summer - by Hugh Holland (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Explore the captivating world of 1970s California skateboarding through Hugh Holland's lens in Last Days of Summer. This complete archive, enriched with many never-before-seen images, an introduction by acclaimed artist Shepard Fairey, and extensive interviews, unveils the evolution of a legendary subculture and the photographer who documented it all.

From 1975 to 1978, Hugh Holland immortalized the burgeoning subculture of skateboarding in California, photographing young sidewalk surfers on the streets of Los Angeles, parts of the San Fernando Valley, Venice Beach, and as far away as San Francisco and Baja California. In four short years, he documented the rise of the sport before it became officially sanctioned and permanently changed by commercialization, brand sponsorships, and safety precautions like helmets and knee pads. In hindsight, this time period held a wild and free innocence that Holland captured beautifully.

His images, from suburban backyard haunts to the asphalt streets that connected them, still resonate as an important document of this time and place where legendary Dogtown and Z-Boys skateboarders were just beginning. With their requisite bleach-blond hair, tanned bodies, tube socks, and Vans sneakers, these young outsiders are masterfully captured against a sometimes harsh but always sunny Southern California landscape.

While many of Holland's iconic images are well-known and beloved, Last Days of Summer uncovers unseen gems to create an ultimate must-have collection. Internationally acclaimed artist Shepard Fairey's foreword speaks to the cultural significance of Holland's work, and writer Nick Owchar's extensive interviews with Holland and well-known skateboarders and visual artists, including the legendary Danny Kwock and Ed Templeton, underscores how this photographic time capsule of California youth culture still inspires today. Comprehensive and gorgeously packaged, this is the ultimate coffee-table book for any fan of skateboard culture, vintage photography, and California history.

Review Quotes

"This oversize book unfolds like scenes from a dream where nothing else exists but the quest for the perfect skate.... Holland's work stands at the nexus of sport, street, documentary, portrait, and fashion photography, effortlessly blending genres to mesmerizing effect all while helping to preserve a groundbreaking moment in LA history." --Huck Magazine.

About the Author

Hugh Holland is a Los Angeles-based photographer who rose to fame with now-classic 1970s images of skateboarders and their burgeoning subculture. He has exhibited his photographs at galleries and retailers around the world, including M+B Gallery in L.A., Benrubi Gallery in New York, Colette in Paris, and Herman Miller in Tokyo, to name a few. He has also done recent brand collaborations with Lanvin, Vans, and Wax Poster. His books include Locals Only by AMMO Books and Silver. Skate. Seventies. by Chronicle Chroma.

Shepard Fairey is an internationally acclaimed artist who emerged from the skateboarding scene in the late 1980s. Fairey has exhibited globally and his work is featured in museum collections around the world, including the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Nick Owchar is the founder of Impressive Content, an editing and content service. He is a writer with more than twenty years of professional experience in journalism and higher education. He is also the former deputy book editor for the Los Angeles Times. Work in progress: Sorry for the Interruptions: A Novel.