Trigger Happy with Jack Brooks & Polaroid
In Conversation with Esta Rae | 03.07.24
A new exhibition celebrating Jack Brooks’ Polaroid photos of unexpected moments, Trigger Happy marries his work with archival material from the Museum of Youth Culture to embrace those (un)happy accidents of youth that end up being the main event.
Catch the exhibition this weekend at Meanwhile Studio, 4 Flitcroft Street, WC2H 8DJ.
July 5th 12 - 6 PM
July 6th 12 - 5 PM
ESTA
So my first question maybe sounds a bit philosophical but I was wondering for you what came first, the skateboard or the camera?
JACK
The camera. Actually the video camera. When I was really little I got a video camera just to make films with my brothers, I think one of the first ones we made was on a small pool table in our bedroom where this teddy bear came in and beat everyone up around it. And then it was family weddings and stuff like that. Later on I was studying art to get credits to go to uni and I’d hurt my knee, I needed surgery for ACL reconstruction, and I started filming skateboarding stuff then because I still wanted to go out to the skate sessions but couldn’t skate myself. So it was an excuse to go out and film and get to still be around everyone. Being out rather than being sat at home and missing out. It just kinda stuck after that.
ESTA
Makes sense that it gave you a bit of purpose to be there so then creatively it just felt natural to keep it up. Do you see skateboarding as a subculture in itself?
JACK
Yes and no. It’s a bit different now that it's reached the Olympics. I think you could categorise it in two ways where there’s skating that’s competition orientated and has become more mainstream with the Olympics. But then the subcultural side of it is kind of what I do when I’m filming where we go to place in London with interesting architecture and finding unique ways to skate and guerilla filmmaking styles. There’s no permits, nothing like that, you might get kicked out by security or be victim to the elements, rain, wind, intense heat, and it’s just pure luck most of the time. And then you’re dealing with the general public and watching out for each other if someone is skating some stairs or a busy walkway. So I’d say there's still a subculture to it but skateboarding is so broad now that there’s a lot more elements to it.
ESTA
It’s not the skating itself that is subcultural but there’s often a community that goes hand in hand with it and that still has a subcultural identity. It’s what you shoot a lot of in your work, the moments among the purpose that make up the meaning, and there’s a lot of individuals coming together to share their time.
JACK
It’s more artistic expression than sport that brings us together. It’s kind of like a home to a variety of different subcultures, skateboarding connects people from all walks of life, together in one huge subculture. You’ll have someone who’s more into hip hop and someone who’s more into metal and they can be together through the common love of skateboarding.
ESTA
Yeah it feels fluid and like all sorts of identities are welcome. I was thinking about how skateboards stripped back are there to get you from A to B, a vehicle for travelling, and how much of the culture is about the journey.
JACK
It’s like when we go on trips to other countries and skate places, people often ask me did I go see this landmark in New York or LA or wherever it is, but no, we went to an estate in a bad part of town and car park in another. Skateboarding will take you to the weirdest of places and the most unique places that are sometimes untouched and left alone by a lot of people. You get these areas where no one’s doing anything with it and skateboarders will come along and make it their own which can bring a whole new community to it. Some areas are dangerous and skaters come along and soften the place to a point where everyone feels welcome and crime rates are brought down.
ESTA
There’s a transformative quality in it. That starts on an individual level, learning a new sport and a new skill, and spreads through our community and the places we inhabit to almost change the soul of an area. The history of skateboarding is so tied up in the history of space and place.
JACK
Yeah, definitely. Skateboarders will walk about looking at the pavement and figuring out in their head how good it is or how perfect a set of stairs is. Noticing a crack at the top of a set of stairs that ruins a spot. Looking at the world with a whole different eye to anyone else because they want to utilise the urban landscape around them whereas most people are just passing through. A skateboarder is wondering how they can make sense of a space to fit their needs.
ESTA
The mental benefit of connecting to the spaces we inhabit like that is huge. Like you mentioned earlier, skating takes you to new and different places, the less touristy parts of town, which means you can end up in some unplanned and unpredictable circumstances. That will teach you some really important life skills.
JACK
I think that’s really important for younger skateboarders. You get that from community as well. At the park you get the older and younger skateboarders all mixing together and the older skateboarders just throw a bit of advice the way of the younger ones. You don’t get that intergenerational mix with a lot of things. Skateboarding is unique in that way.
ESTA
The sport itself is naturally quite fast paced but there are these in between moments, slower moments, in conversations and nods of recognition that kind of make it all up in the end.
JACK
Skateboarders are quite particular on what they like to skate. Some people skate ledges, some skate rails or stairs. Skaters will often resonate with a place. So if you go on a trip with a group of 10 people with all different tastes then some people end up chilling but after three or four hours they start to get bored so get up to try something and come out with a trick that’s really unique and they never really planned to do just circumstances brought it out of them.
ESTA
Being pushed outside of our boundaries really provokes innovation in us that we’d never otherwise have known.
JACK
It’s perseverance as well. Learning to do a kickflip is a really hard thing and it takes someone who’s really dying to skate. A lot of people will be enamoured by skating, pick up a board and then find it too difficult and decide to drop it. That's the kind of person you see on the street who says ‘Oh I used to skate back in the day’. But the people who don’t give up until they get the kickflip and then move onto the next trick and the next trick, they’re the ones who become really skilled and carry it through life. That commitment carries through in all elements of life.
ESTA
The nature of skateboarding can be found through destruction. Whether it’s breaking boards or breaking bones, it’s learning that things can go wrong but you can also fix them, do you think you’ve taken on that mentality from skating?
JACK
You get places you really want to skate but there are horrendous cracks in the floor or ledges. A lot of skateboarders who are DIY will buy stuff to six the crack and make it usable whereas a lot of people just walk past it, skateboarders very much feel they need to maintain an area of somewhere they skate. Keep it nice and clear up after themselves.
ESTA
Did working with Palace introduce you to a new world of skating?
JACK
It’s very similar because all the skateboarders come from the same place. It’s like a global club that skateboarders are in and know the vibe of. Not all skateboarders are perfect but it’s really easy to get along with most of them.
ESTA
It’s like a language that once you’ve learnt it you can travel the world and communicate with everyone who speaks that language. When you’re out is there anything you really enjoy shooting or hope to capture?
JACK
You’re looking for tricks in particular, the perfect land that the skateboarders are happy with, the way it looks and feels. But in between that is just a group of people being together and enjoying the situation they’re in together. It might be that you’re somewhere in a new town with no shops around and two skateboarders who haven’t spoken much will go on a mini mission to the shop where they start chatting and get to know each other. It’s building these bonds outside of the skateboarding itself and seeing what other common interests are there. For me, it’s capturing that stuff. I hate when people are conscious of me filming them. I really like to film someone when they’re in a really candid moment just being themselves. They’re not even aware I'm pointing a camera at them. Without a camera, i’m quite chatty and with a camera I stay quite silent, I kind of just tuck myself into the background. The skateboarders are so used to having me there that they’re not conscious of me filming them. I can blend into the scenery and get these candid moments where it’s more genuine than having a whole crew. Capturing these candid moments you get a little slice of what it's like to be there. It’s not just about collecting tricks, as important as the actual ticks are, the in between bits give you the real vibe. Watching that resonates with skateboarders around the world.
ESTA
It’s those completely natural moments that are unreplicatable but more so relatable. Those are the moments we can connect with. What’s the joy of shooting Polaroid in these situations?
JACK
It’s the spontaneity of it. With Polaroid you can quickly capture a moment in time and it’s candid and personal. Because the camera is so portable you can capture a moment quickly, there’s no set up required, and then you can put it away for later. At the end of the day you have a collection of moments that you can share around. It’s more personal.
ESTA
I think you’ve really captured it there. Because you only take the one photo and you don’t get it instantly you don’t obsess over it, you’re forced to move onto the next one, and it’s only later you can look back through it. The moment is fleeting and you embrace that.
JACK
You switch the camera on, you take the photo and you keep it and it’s done, you move on. You’re not setting up or forcing moments. It comes really naturally with Polaroid.
ESTA
You get to capture a really personal moment.
Trigger Happy runs from July 5th-6th at Meanwhile Studio, 4 Flitcroft Street, WC2H 8DJ.