More back story on Long Beach: Work in Progress. Our skateboarding panel featuring pro Chad Tim Tim, ex-pro Justin Reynolds, cinematographer Ricki Bedenbaugh, and shoe designer Paul Kwon was greatly enhanced by photographs of Cherry Park (a.k.a. Bixby Park to the kooks) provided by Mark Nisbet. Since the planning stages, Niz was cited by the contributors as a key member of Long Beach’s skateboarding scene and keeper of its heritage.

What makes Mark’s photos unique is not only that he was there but that he thought to capture more than just the heaviest skaters pulling off the most ridiculous tricks. There is hanging out as well as groms and guys with balloons to put everything in perspective. It is a social space and living culture, and it is framed perfectly by the photographer with sloppy edges to provide proof.

More evidence? There are his Long Beach-centric YouTube channel and recent photos taken by him of LBC icons Mike Vallely and Greg Ginn amongst local landmarks but I think the Cherry Park book is still the heaviest, most personal piece of all. (He gave one to Chad, who is all over the book as a youngster, when he got married.)

So I was very stoked when Mark began uploading photos at the 11th hour to share at the Imprint conference, and pleased to provide a glimpse of some of them here–or better yet, the Cherry Park Life page. If you want to understand the roots of skateboarding in Long Beach and gain insight into the city itself, 508productions.com is a crucial place to start.