Richard Hart grew up skating with a handful of friends in a little market town that neighbored his tiny village in England. His punk and hardcore vinyl collection made him as much of an outsider as his obsession with pushing around his local rough country roads. He enjoyed being an outsider and was made aware, through skating and consuming every page of R.A.D magazine, of the bigger picture and potential outside the confines of his small English home.
Sure, for creative and seeming outsiders like Hart, if it hadn't been skating, there would have been something else that got him 'out', be it art or music or whatever, however skating certainly gave Hart a meaningful and supportive community that urged him to make leaps for new experiences.
Hart is from the generation of Gonz, Blender, Lucero, Don B and Ged Wells. He picked up a camera while skating, seeing photography as just another aspect of skating. It was Hart's motivation to incorporate whatever he could into his passion for skating that has led him around the world, shooting some of the most prolific skaters in his own avant-style.
Hart creates photos that captures the obsessive allure of skating through his observational lens and consciously tries to shoot a photo that could stand on its own even if there wasn’t a skateboarder in the frame; something of an arresting image.
During a recent trip to New York, Hart met up with some of the dudes from the Krooked team, ended up skating with the crew and taking photos. Krooked's team manager Bram De Martelaere and Hart wanted to do something with the photos and settled on putting together a limited edition zine and guest board.
Watch the video interview from Krooked with Richard below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJiOz-nNcXk