Hugh Holland, who recently passed away, began photographing Southern California skateboarders in 1975 after spotting them carving through drainage ditches in Laurel Canyon. Though he had no formal art education, he had developed a passion for photography in the 1960s while living in Oklahoma and later built a darkroom in his West Hollywood home. From 1975 to 1978, he captured the raw energy and beauty of the early skate scene before it turned commercial. His iconic Angels series debuted in 2006 and gained international recognition, with exhibitions in cities like Paris, London, and New York. Holland’s work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, and MOCA’s landmark “Art in the Streets” show.
