THE SKATE PARK PROJECT

6 Jan

By Zeeshan Khan (also see Zeeshan’s Instagram)

I got exposed to photography at a fairly young age (teenage years I think) when I stumbled across my late grandfather's cameras. None of them actually worked and at the time I did not have the means to get them fixed. However, I pretended to be a photojournalist traveling through the Grand Silk Road photographing natives along the way. It is safe to say that the 'pretend play' experience got embedded in my memory. Since then I've been obsessed with making pictures. There is a lot more to the story that I will eventually share. But for now, I wanted to share with you all a project that I've been working on since mid-2020 and will hopefully turn into a photozine by end of 2021.

Lynch Family Skate Park is built upon a once contaminated site in Boston & Cambridge. I stumbled across it since I enjoy photographing life around city bridges. It is built right under the Zakim Bridge ramp with fantastical views of the city. This is my go to spot in the city of Boston and I visit it almost every week. Sometimes I bring my kids and wife along so they can enjoy the views, do a bit of cycling, skateboarding, running etc.

Hanging around this area brings me great joy. I get to experience people of all ages enjoying the freedom of skateboarding and other similar recreational sports. One gets to experience open skies, bridge views, sounds of the Charles River, churches of Charlestown, Museum of Science building, and views of Back Bay. Also, one of the major train stations are right across the way so you also get to see trains.

Clearly this sounds like the best spot to test out your new lens or camera rig. I was ecstatic when I stumbled across this park by accident on one of my city photowalks. Since then I've been coming back here to capture a variety of photos in a variety of moods. I present here an ongoing series called the Skate Park both in black & white and colour. Hope you enjoy.