Last week, Vans celebrated her 50th anniversary. So far several parties have been hosted throughout the world to celebrate, and now it’s time for the Benelux to join in. In honour of Vans’s milestone, Rob Rouleaux has spent the year following the Vans Benelux team everywhere and managed to capture some genuine moments. The outcome; a photobook containing over 300 shots showing the ins and outs of Dutch and Belgian teamriders. We spoke to Rob beforehand to get to know some of the finer details about the project. We asked him about the idea behind the book and what can be expected.
These two sentences serve as guidelines for the book.
What’s the idea behind the photobook and how did it emerge?
The idea emerged after we went on a trip to Dusseldorf and Cologne. We were the for a week with a top notch crew basically just shooting photos and filming and managed to get some quality shots. I just thought it would be a shame if these photos would blatantly be used in some online photo article and Rik immediately agreed. He also noticed that I’d found my mojo on this trip. Nevertheless something had to be done with these photos online, but we saved up our best shots. During a night out skating we were basically brainstorming when Rik challenged me to come up with an idea. I’d already jokingly said to him “let’s make this into a custom publishing thing”, but Rik told me he preferred something a bit more luxurious. To me as a photographer, a book is something sacred. It kind of shows you’ve made it to some extent… That’s when I started to write down my ideas. We’ve been adjusting the idea through the process, and this is the final result. For a year I’ve followed the Vans Benelux team bringing my camera every time. What’s it like being sponsored by Vans? What do you do? Who do you meet? Where do you go? What on earth are these guys up to? This will be showcased in the book.
Who is the book made for?
You could see it as a present for some of Vans important partners, not to mention the teamriders. Think about shops doing business with vans etc… I thought It was a good idea, but I also wanted regular skaters to have the possibility to get a hold of it, not just the bigshots. Vans agreed to share the product with both important partners and people who are generally interested. This means you can personally buy a copy off me. Maybe some skateshops would be interested…
Vans Benelux Rider Bert Roeterdink in Dusseldorf
Nassim Guammaz en Daan van der Linden
Who is the book made for?
You could see it as a present for some of Vans important partners, not to mention the teamriders. Think about shops doing business with vans etc… I thought It was a good idea, but I also wanted regular skaters to have the possibility to get a hold of it, not just the bigshots. Vans agreed to share the product with both important partners and people who are generally interested. This means you can personally buy a copy off me. Maybe some skateshops would be interested…
Tell us about the places you’ve been this year…
I’ve been to several places and I’ve met the entire team, we also went out to visit some Vans riders. This one time we went to visit Timothy Deconynck in Brugge. I came along with trips to Dusseldorf, Cologne, Leverkussen, Duisberg, etc. A good friend of mine and co-photographer Willy Nothers lives there, he showed us some great photo-spots. I even went along to contests such as the Vans Shop Riot.
What trip did you enjoy most?
We went to Neurenberg, where Chris Pfanner lives. Our idea was to visit Pfanner in his hometown. He is a rad dude, so we just checked if it was possible. We went there and saw Chris skating, which is mind-blowing. He did show us around some rails (he might skate them, but we don’t) which were chest-high, but it was sick anyways. The fun thing was that he told us that no-one ever came to visit him in Nuerenberg, we were the first to bring up that idea. The man himself said he had a great time since he now looked different at his local spots. Now he’d seen other people skating in his city, he looked at spots differently and was naturally stoked. He even managed to get some sick photos, so that was tight!
One of the best moments when out skating…
Chris Pfanner
What are you most proud of/satisfied with when thinking of this book?
It might sound a bit weird, but I’m most proud of the fact that I managed to get this project to such a good result together with Sebastiaan Vijverberg, Rik van Dijk and Dominique de Vreese. Of course Rik has been key in setting up the whole thing. Since the project required a substantial investment from Vans, I had never expected to give us the final go. I initially thought some concessions had to be made for the idea I had in mind, but the result is actually 100% what I wanted it to be. I’m not making any profit, since the whole budget is spent on the printing. But it’s exactly how I wanted it to be, that’s probably the biggest achievement.
You’re someone who strongly believes photos should be immortalized on paper. You could even say you have a love-hate relationship with internet. Can you tell us something about this?
Haha, you got a minute? I indeed have a love-hate relationship with the internet. First of all I want to say that internet is a very rad concept. It’s great, but people are still learning how to deal with it. I’m mainly talking about the norms and values on the web. When internet emerged, suddenly films, music and whatever was freely available to everyone. For years straight, this was just casually happening; anything you needed, music, videos, software, you could get for free. Don’t get me wrong, as I am guilty myself. But I’ve come to the conclusion that all this “free” stuff is something people put a ton of effort in. These people are dependent on selling their product and try to make a living. Now I know how hard it is to make a living as a skateboard photographer, I’d even be stoked to eat anything else than bread. This just came to me at a certain point. It seems like people think the internet is a place where everyone can play founders keepers all the time, but it simply doesn’t work like that. I’m not the kind of person trying to get every penny I feel entitled to, but simply using my photos for advertising without even asking me? No can do man. It’s a shame that so many people are making the sickest stuff out but at the same time stress out about bills and housing in order to do so. And come on, a nicely framed photo standing next to your bonsai trees lasts way longer than a one of many photo on a website.
”The book has become exactly the way I wanted”
The Boss itself, Rick van Dijk is also immortalized in the book with this classic invert.
Any new projects coming up?
Not right now. My head’s full of ideas I want to make happen, but I’ll let them brew in my mind until I feel the time is right.
The book will be released on the 2nd of April at Pier15 in Breda. What can we expect to see there?
Your typical local enthusiasm! It’s a combination of Vans’ 50th anniversary and the official book presentation. Everyone whom the book is made for is invited to have a beer, check out the book and generally have a good time. We organized a photo exposition which will stay around for a while and there’s one or two best trick contest with some nice goodies to give away. Of course DJ Roodbaard en Cholesteroy will support everyone with their fine tunes. Moreover, people who like to purchase the book can buy it from me. The party’s for everyone, so bring your board and be there!
More info about the releaseparty
You can’t make it to the release, but you really want to have a book? Please send a e-mail to rob@robrouleaux.com
Internetgeneration or not… A good selfie is timeless!