Join us on this Saturday, April 13th, between 4:00 and 6:00 PM to celebrate the publication of the Magdalena Wosinksa's amazing survey of her skateboarding photographs, Fulfill The Dream. In addition to signing the first copies in the States of this hot-off-the-press import, Ms. Wosinska will be engaging in a discussion with renowned cinematographer and photographer Tobin Yelland comparing their shared yet very different experiences in the heady world of the skate culture of the 1990s and beyond.
We look forward to seeing you!
"Fulfill the Dream is a documentary photobook by Polish-born, Los Angeles-based photographer Magdalena Wosinska that captures the American skate culture of the 1990s through color and black-and-white snapshots. The scene’s energy, creativity, and rebellious spirit influenced fashion, music, and artistic expression, shaping a generation of American underground youth. The book features Chad Muska, Austyn Gillette, Jim Greco, Harold Hunter, Ed Templeton, Eric Ellington, Ali Boulala, and numerous other influential skaters. Beyond the book’s broader examination of American skate subculture, Wosinska’s project is a deeply personal journey through her teenage years and an exploration of what it means to be a misfit in a world of misfits. Her visual diary captures the duality that has shaped her life: the joy and exhilaration of skateboarding alongside meaningful human connection and the adrenaline-fueled world of drugs, a first love, prejudice, a deep need to find a place of belonging and struggles with mental health. Shortly after immigrating to the U.S. from communist Poland in 1991, Wosinska’s coping mechanism for culture shock was her camera. It became her passport to a world ruled by boys, and a language for fitting in and forming heartfelt friendships in the skate community. Through raw, visceral portraits and self-portraits created in juxtaposition to the male-dominated scene, she captured the now-famous teen spirit of the ‘90s, reflecting the ever-shifting balance between the highs and lows of belonging and the essence of years of making dreams come true as a skate photographer through perseverance, diligence, and hard work. Alongside the teenage angst of the era, the project explores themes of resilience, female empowerment, and the relentless pursuit of goals."
