Pool-Skating Sub-Culture

 

Steve Olson in action

Finding empty swimming pools, sneaking in to clean them, and using them as makeshift personal skate parks is a clandestine sport in and of itself. Since the ’70s, the POOL-SKATING SUB-CULTURE has thrived during times of economic crisis, when houses are abandoned. Today, the warriors of this clandestine practice use Google Maps and helicopters to search for dilapidated pools. Always pushing the limits,always taking more risks.

photography and text by ARTO SAARI

 

I started skating in Finland in 1993, but I didn’t start to take proper photographs until 2000. I’ve always been looking for new places to skate, whether in the street or in empty swimming pools — which I really got into about five years ago, with like-minded skaters. Then I started photographing them. People used to rent planes or helicopters to find pools. Nowadays, Google Maps is the…