I recently continued work on a series of images featuring parkour runners in action. This time I headed out to Santa Monica to work with Nick Bishop, a talented young traceur from North Hollywood. A while back, I had seen a video he posted on YouTube and was impressed, so I invited him to be a part of the series. We shot for much of the afternoon on a variety of urban obstacles, from a series of railings on a zig-zag incline and a 6-foot wide, 12-foot high stairwell gap with only an 8-inch ledge to land on, to the monkey bars at the original Muscle Beach, where he leaped from bar to bar and then sprung from the final one, soaring over my head like a long jump skier without the skis, before tucking into a flip and landing in the sand. Nick’s energy is great, and he’s got cojones to spare, making jumps that even at 21, never mind today, I never would have considered. It’s great watching these guys seemingly defy gravity and turn the world into their playground.
For this shoot I also decided to collaborate with a stylist and after doing some searching contacted Sunshine Harding, an up-and-coming stylist, who was excited to participate. With some direction from me as to what type of look I was picturing, she came up with numerous options that worked for the various locations we found. Hoping to continue the collaboration on future shoots!
