MANUAL is the culmination of a year-long, collaborative photography project featuring the work of 12 fellow photographers who I commissioned to create small bodies of work surrounding their individual experiences with a single handmade skateboard that traveled between them over the course of a year—all without the creative constraints typically associated with an assignment brief. No mandatories beyond producing photographic images; no required content to capture, no number of images to turn in, no stylistic direction to consider, etc.
Really, I launched MANUAL to provide other creatives with a context in which they could explore unbridled expressions of their work. That freedom was something I was able to fashion for myself by launching Side Project Skateboards as my own business back in 2013. In contrast to what was then my day job at a design agency, I could actually pursue what felt compelling as creative director of my own company. That was incredibly liberating, and once I realized how precious—and replicable—that was, I came up with the concept behind MANUAL to share that opportunity with others to see where they could take it. This resulted in what I think is a wonderfully diverse, 160-page hardcover book featuring 12 distinct photographic approaches to the same challenge.
On the surface, Side Project Skateboards is a one-man skateboard company that crafts vintage-inspired cruiserboards from found and recovered hardwoods and American-made components. Beneath that however, it is a platform for creative experimentation and collaboration, which has garnered a global following. It was launched in 2013 by Jake Eshelman, who still works as the company’s creative director and sole craftsman in addition to his photography practice.
CREDITS
Contributors:
Lauren Marek
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(Brenham, TX)
Paige French
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(Athens, GA)
Melissa Laree Cunningham
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(Dallas, TX)
Adrian O. Walker
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(Oakland, CA)
Henry O. Head
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(Point Lookout, MO)
Sera Lindsey
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(Cody, WY)
Joshua Anderson
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(Berlin, Germany)
Yana Yatsuk
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(Venice, CA)
Weston James Palmer
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(Los Angeles, CA)
Christian Gideon
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(Springfield, MO)
Kirk Chambers
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(Charleston, SC)
Concept & Creative Direction:
Jake Eshelman
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(Houston, TX)
Design Direction: