New Limited Edition Kevin Staab Poster - Meeting and Making an Iconic Skate Photo

It must have been at the Del Mar Skate Ranch in 1980 when I had my first dose of Kevin Staab. I remember the moment quite vividly. It was a Saturday morning, and we were holding an amateur event in the keyhole pool. I was on the mic in the pro shop announcing the lineup for the next heat of skaters. I went down the list and called out, "Kevin Stab," and immediately heard a Mickey Mouse voice yell through the window, "It's Staab, you asshole!" I was taken aback at first and said I was sorry to the 13-year-old boy decked out in a full Protec helmet, Rector pads, and wristguards and went on with my job running the contest and the skate park. Over the next few years, I got to know Kevin, who was from Phoenix and would frequently visit his grandma in Rancho Santa Fe. He quickly made friends with a young Tony Hawk and the other DMSR locals and became a bona fide local himself. Over time, I shot many photos of Kevin skating, and they helped to hone my photography skills.

 

Jumping ahead to 1985, Kevin and I were staying at Bruno Peeters' house in Antwerp, Belgium. There was a small city skatepark down the street with a few basic skate obstacles. We shot a few token photos of Kevin ollieing on a quarterpipe there, just so I could run an Antwerp skate photo in Transworld Skateboarding Magazine. When I got back to the TWS offices and put an extensive Europe article together, that "token" skate photo of Staab was singled out by the art director, David Carson, and a high-contrast, graphic xeroxed version was used for the sub ad, a sticker, a shirt, a banner to hang at skate contests, and the end dot at the end of articles. 

 

Let's jump ahead to the present. I gave my designer friend, Josh Higgins, the black-and-white photo of Kevin's ollie shot from 37 years ago and asked him to design a pop-art-like collab silkscreened poster for Staab and me to sign and number. Josh came through with a beautiful, vibrant image featuring colors that Kevin actually wears and a punk rock skull graphic down in the corner.

 

 

I am offering this as a limited release 18" x 24" silkscreened poster in an edition of 70 prints for $75 each, each signed by Kevin and me.

They are available in my shop.