An overdue light is being shone on Wales’ skateboarding community at Swansea’s Glynn Vivian Art Gallery with 360°, an exhibition by Skin Phillips. Capturing the local skate scene in the 1980s as it exploded in popularity, Phillips went on to global renown as a skating photographer. Now back in his home city, he’s combed through his archives to bring this show to fruition; it’s showing until the new year, and he talked about it with Emma J Smith.
The 360° exhibition showcases your photography from Swansea to Los Angeles – from the local scene then and now, to some defining moments in skate history, How did it all come together?
Skin Phillips: It’s been in the planning for a few years. I know Karen MacKinnon, the curator at the gallery; we wanted to do something on skateboarding, something a little bit different. I gave the Glyn Viv everything – I didn’t really pick anything in it! They curated it all. The space it’s in is really big, there’s a lot in there; it turned into this bigger and bigger thing as it went along, it just sort of snowballed.

How did you feel the first time you saw the exhibition?
Skin Phillips: It was a bit overwhelming, to be honest! To see it framed, and to get it put into scale was really nice. I was always afraid I didn’t have enough stuff. A lot of it is archived stuff from Transworld magazine as well – real prints, not digital ones – there’s contact sheets in there, and sequences put together in frames. I’ve never done anything on this scale before.
Is there a particular photo that is your favourite in the exhibition?
Skin Phillips: There’s one photo of Josh Kalis in front of the San Francisco Bridge – that was one of my early covers, so that’s got good memories.
That’s one of the few colour ones, too.
Skin Phillips: Yeah, in the magazine, it was shot mostly in colour, but then I became more known for my black and white later on.
I felt lots of love watching the video about the vert ramp at Morfa, which was there in the late 80s and early 90s. Where can Welsh skaters go to ride something like that today? There’s one in Spit & Sawdust in Cardiff, I think.
Skin Phillips: Yeah, there’s a vert ramp there, kind of the same spec as Morfa. It’s probably the only vert ramp in Wales, as of now, although there’s a couple spotted. I think the kids are going away from street [skating] and back to vert and parks more. It’s sort of gone full circle.
The first exhibit is a boombox from the early 80s, used at the Derwen Fawr and West Cross ramp – what kind of music would have been played on that, hip-hop?
Actually the tape in it is AC/DC! That generation of early 80s skateboarders would have been playing American hardcore, British hardcore, punk rock. A bit of metal, Motörhead, but mostly American and British punk. We were the generation before hip-hop, it wasn’t really out in 82, it was just coming.

You were also commissioned to create a new series of photographs, capturing the contemporary Swansea skateboarding scene, which will be acquired for the gallery’s permanent collection. How important was it for you, then, to photograph the Mumbles Skatepark?
Skin Phillips: Yeah, that was good. It was probably a five-year battle to get that down there – politically, it was a really big win for skateboarding, especially where it is. It was a hard slog for everyone behind the scenes to get that thing done; I don’t think people understand all the work that goes on behind the scenes, sitting down in meetings over and over again. Since it’s been up and running there have been people down there everyday, like sunrise skateboarding. It’s been nothing but a success.
After all, it could have folded at any time.
Skin Phillips: The fight that people put up against it – oh my god! Again and again they were getting knocked down, but they kept going. Mumbles Council did a brilliant job, and all the local skaters did a great job by supporting it and going again and again… and eventually it happened.
You’ve also auctioned some of your prints, with the proceeds going to Swansea skatepark Exist – which has now secured a lease for the next 10 years. How important are these sort of inner-city skateparks?
Skin Phillips: Massive. They’re like youth clubs or social clubs. They’re more than just skateparks, they’re community centres, which people don’t really get. They’re not places where people go and just have a tear up and get into trouble – people can skate safe, they are looked after, supervised by adults. They’ve got great programmes in there for all different levels. What Kate and Ric at Exist have done, they’ve done out of hard work and love, and they’re getting recognition for what they’ve done, which is amazing. It’s not an easy job, running a skate park.

And Swansea Council has announced a huge investment into skateboarding, so locally it seems it’s on the up.
Skin Phillips: It’s definitely coming back, getting bigger for sure. I don’t think that scene ever went away, but it’s becoming more prominent. The Olympics helped, and there’s more girls skateboarding now, which is brilliant, so I think it’s changing for the better. It’s nice to see there is money being pushed into it – Swansea needs that. It doesn’t need more flats or coffee shops, it needs places and things for kids to do.
You’re busy with the exhibition at the moment, but have you any plans to go back to the States?
Skin Phillips: Yeah, I’ve got to go back to sort some business out, and see my son – he’s a jazz drummer in San Diego. I’ll go back and meet some friends who have reached out, and start travelling again. That’s the rough plan.
And are you going to take the exhibition on the road?
Skin Phillips: If someone wants to do something with it. I’ll be doing shows, that’s always been going on; I’ve got plans next year to do some stuff. I like the idea of people curating it, in a different way, so they’re picking it not me. There’s a lot of stuff there to see.
Skin Phillips: 360°, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea, until Mon 6 Jan.
Admission: FREE. Info: here
words EMMA J SMITH
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