Eric Palmer

Eric is the first photographer from My Culture mag to actually get featured on his skating. I haven’t known him for that long, but I can definitely say that he is super easy going, ALWAYS keen for a roll and he’s one of the sickest photographers I know. So I’d like to start off by thanking him for all the hard work and dope photos he has taken for this mag, Eric you are awesome ou! Flip!!!

Let’s start off with some crazy questions:

If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be?
Some sort of bird of prey I reckon, you have few predators and you get to fly.
 

How many golf balls can you fit into a taxi?
Depends on how fast it’s driving.
 

You are running through the African Savannah. Behind you is a hungry lion, before you is a lake with deadly fish. What do you do?
Catch the deadly fish and feed it to the lion of course!
 

What is your biggest regret?
Don’t think I really have one… I’ve learnt from both of my good and bad experiences.

Red pill or blue pill?
Why choose when you can do both!

 
What is your super power?
I’m telepathetic.

Ok back to skating:

Tell me about the first day you rolled into a skate park?
I had just started skating when a park opened in Stellenbosch. My first time there, they had an opening comp.  Being new to park I was quite nervous, but super amped on the vibe and all the rollers. Hearing the sound of people rolling down the ramps and hitting the metal strips at the bottom, did something to my soul and for quite a few years after that, it was the sound of a good time about to happen!

At the opening comp there was a guy that had made his own little rail and was doing front sides on it, which was the first time I’d ever seen someone grind with blades. There was also what seemed like a massive half pipe that was probably 8 or 9 feet high with no coping. I could hardly get up the quarters, but the launch boxes and wall rides were super fun. Basically I just had a super sick time. I was a local there for a while and it gave my start to rolling a good boost. Good memories of that old Bladerink park!

Are your parents supportive of your skating?
Yeah, not madly, but they’re not against it. Keeps me out of trouble most of the time. When I was younger it was a constant “get another hobby, you can’t JUST skate", but now that I have another hobby/job that can take me somewhere in life (and pay for my own skates) they’re much more supportive, haha.

Who is your all time favourite skater?
Don’t know if I have one. There are so many sick skaters out there with completely different things to offer. Haffey just ‘cos he’s a beast, Fish is the most stylish and can make rolling flat ground look sick and then there’s Farmer, Stockwell, Shima, Bah, etc… there are just too many. I love rollerblading, so anyone pushing it amps me up.

Which international skater would you dig to meet one day?
Probably Shima, again there are so many good rollers, but he has been in it and on top for the longest. It would either be him, Julio or DL.

What is your favourite thing to skate, and who normally rolls with you?
I really used to love flat or mellow down rails in street, but I haven’t been sessioning rails much lately. Got over it a bit. At the moment it’s just the park ‘cos I can roll almost anytime without getting busted and shouted at like a little kid by some angry person who’s jealous of the fun I’m having Haha! Plus there are so many different obstacles at the park, so no need to drive to another spot when you’re bored with one of them. I’ve never been much of a park skater, but the park in Stellenbosch is perfect for me. I love flowing on the ramps and getting speed for tricks. The ground is smooth so I don’t get ripped open as often.

I skate with Gregg B, aka John Switch most of the time. Then there are others who pop by now and again like Nic X, Lloyd, Ryan and Renier. I’m photographing the BMX guys all the time, so I often roll with them more than the rollerbladers. As long as you’re amped on rolling and willing to talk a bit of shit between tricks I don’t really mind who I roll with.

What was your first pair of skates?
My very first pair was Air Max 5000 from Clicks. First pair of aggressive skates was Oxygen A.R 1.1’s. They were heavy tanks, but solid as hell!

What are you rolling with at the mo?
I’m on Razors Aragon 2’s with Create Originals thanks to Brian Lewis. New skates are going to be needed soon, but will stick to this shape, maybe Aragon 4’s as a birthday present to myself.

Biggest fear in rolling?
Permanent injuries scare the shit out of me like paralisation, I don’t even want to think about it. Big drop rails also scare me, that’s why I chill on the more mellow stuff. Would rather skate tech for ages than hit a hammer, get hurt and not be able to roll for a few months. I’m all about the fun, but stunts do need to happen now and again . . . and it feels good to scare yourself!

Biggest gap or set of stairs?
Wasn’t the biggest stair gap ever, but I fakie 7’d the University of the Western Cape’s 13 set.

Tell us about your photography; how did you get into it, what is your favourite thing to shoot and what’s your favourite piece of equipment?
I started off with a small video camera and began by filming myself and friend’s sessioning which is what first got me interested.  I wanted to get a better cam to take it more seriously, but before I managed to save enough money, a D70 camera, a few lenses and a flash were given to me by a family friend. My mom is also a photographer and teaches photography, so I have been around it for quite a while although I never really got into film. It was just too expensive for me at the time, skates and wheels were more important.

Seeing that I had my own camera, luckily the same brand as my mom, which meant I could steal her fisheye and macro lens, I started taking it with on sessions and shooting random pictures. I got so hooked so fast I don’t even quite know what happened, but here I am and still loving it!

I obviously love shooting rolling, but with so few guys doing it, it’s hard to shoot very much. I’ve found that BMX has become my next choice. The timing is so precise! I just love lighting bikes up with my flashes and watching some mad stunts at the same time.

Favourite piece of equipment is a tough one! I love everything I have! Haha. Not the most expensive, but I love all the flashes and playing with lighting. That’s probably what makes me most happy when I shoot. It also allows me to be creative and do my own thing and not just capture what’s going on.

Have you ever won any photography competitions before?
Yeah, I won the Getaway Gallery 2009 and a few other small comps here and there.

If any of the people out there would like to see your work what website can they go to? 
I have made a site/blog that I’ll be posting to more regularly now and have created a separate site for my BMX stuff. There is still my old blog and good old flickr for all the older stuff and a facebook group just in case.
 http://ericpalmer.webgarden.com/
 http://www.bmeggs.webgarden.com/
http://www.afreakin.blogspot.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ericpalmer/
https://www.facebook.com/afreakinphotography
 

Any last words you would like to say to all the rollers out there?
Nah, rollerblading is gay. Haha!