On Style

Taking to the oncoming lane for sight distance on the blind curve, J Riddle employs his aloof, zero-F’s-given approach to hill bombing on the Point Dume grade to Zuma Beach. 

Without putting a loupe to our eye, we’re thinking he’s running Road Rider 4s. J was already an old skate hand when this was taken in 1980. A member of the early ’60s Hobie skateboard team along with Palisades-to-Malibu road dogs George Trafton, Davey Hilton, and Torger Johnson, J and the crew embodied the “surf first, skate later” ethos that gifted skating with an early embrace of point style. The goal was simulacra: If it felt—and looked—good on the water, it would stand up on the pavement. Los Dogtowners, posted up in nearby Ocean Park, took that ball and ran with it. Alva, Adams, and company assured that as long as they were breathing, skate style was surf style. 

As is often the case with Mr. Riddle, his tailoring bears study. Post–Memorial Day white on white. Muslin or linen. Cuffs turned to a slight break. Either partially unzipped convertible sleeves or merely a street-torn unit. But that trailing hand…like he’s fielding a gently tossed quail egg. 

This photo was made by the arch-talented Anthony Friedkin and was part of his Surfing Essay, an all-black-and-white volume joining his many studies of Angeleno waterfront culture.

[Photo by Anthony Friedkin]