Ed Templeton
Interview w/ Ed Templeton
Q: how are you feeling about the current state of the world and when do you think things will (if ever) go back to some semblance of normal?
Ed Templeton: I'm feeling very worried about the world, and especially the USA. We are being led by a complete imbecile, reality show star, who is just a puppet for Mitch McConnell and the GOP to give handouts to the rich and corporations and to get the votes for this they have an entire TV station dedicated to spreading lies and they offer trinkets they don't even personally care about, like abortion rights, to the religious idiots who vote against their own self interest just to make sure a person they don't even know can't decide what to do with their body based on some warped interpretation of the bible, which has been long proven to have been cobbled together from random texts by Constantine back in the Roman times, and is completely irrelevant to today's life, two thousand years of human knowledge later. On top of all this we have a completely mishandled pandemic gripping the entire world and fucking up the global economy. China mishandled the outbreak, censoring the news and punishing the doctor who first reported it, (he later died) and most likely lying about their numbers. Trump dismantled the US pandemic task force back in 2017, and tried to ignore it until it was way too late, losing us the all important preparation time we could have had in place to lessen the damage. I think this pandemic will do lasting damage to people's lives, small businesses. Many independent restaurants, bookstores and shops may not survive. Small art galleries will go bust. Some states are stopping evictions, but the rent debt keeps piling up while people can't work or earn money, so that damage is only delayed, and when this blows over millions of people will be another 3 or 4 months in debt and possibly evicted. Sports are cancelled. All of this because we humans want to cage and eat wild exotic animals like civets, bats, and pangolins, and we keep them in dirty conditions in "wet markets." I'm not sure we will ever go back to normal. Honestly, I can't picture ever wanting to shake another persons hand in my life. I can't picture going to a concert or being in a subway car ever again, but I'm sure I will at some point. Time will heal the wound I suppose. But I'm not sure how long that will take. Humanity has survived many pandemics over our history, so for sure there will be a "normal" again, but it will be altered a bit. Just like 9-11 ushered in new rules and laws and a surveillance state, the TSA, etc, we will come out the other side of this with a new normal.
Q: Do you still skate?
A: Yes, but not as often as I once did. I retired from being a pro skater, and now I spend most of my time running my company, Toy Machine, making graphics, paintings, taking photos, publishing art books, making zines, and traveling. My desires have shifted a bit, and making things takes precedent over landing tricks. The travel and photography keeps me out in the streets. Also I'm 47 now, my body can't keep up with my mind. Tricks that should be easy for me are not anymore, by body just says, "what the fuck do you think you're doing?" I'm starting to feel like anything I do will be less valid to a lot of people if I don't also skate.
Q: Your favorite camera to use is Leica M6.. what if any are some other cameras that you like?
A: Yes, I used a Leica M6 mostly. But I also use a Fuji GF670, a Polaroid Land Camera, a Canon AE-1, and sometimes a Konica Big Mini or an Olympus XA.
Q: Who are some of your favorite current/young photographers?
A: I like Daniel Arnold and Dennis McGrath, but I'm not sure they count as young. Austin Leong is pretty rad, and young. (@awstain on insta) Troy holden has some great stuff. (@tholden415)
Q: If you could have a dinner party in a post social distancing world with any 3 people alive/dead/fictional or real who would you choose?
A: Otto Dix, David Hockney, and Henri Cartier-Bresson. That could be a pretty good dinner conversation.
-Haya zoubi
