#ben cox

The Haçienda

Ben let out a long breath, turning the question over inhis mind. He was silent for a few moments, trying to sort his thoughts intosomething intelligible. ‘To me,’ he started slowly, his attention on his handswhich he was knitting together in his lap, ‘love is feeling safe with someone. It’sbeing able to be yourself, without worrying about that they might think. It’shaving encouragement to be the best – the best version of yourself and beingsupported. It’s – it’s acceptance, and comfort and loyalty.’ His words came outin a nervous tumble, his attention only lifting once he had finished speaking. ‘It’sknowing that there’s someone there for you when you need them, and getting allthat back as well.’

In August 2022, my exhibition, Shralp: An Exploration of Newcastle Skateboarding Through Magazines Past and Present opened at Newcastle Museum. Shralp was open to the public for twelve weeks and the vast majority of the 600 plus photos I used came from my own magazine archives. Big thank you to Newcastle Museum, Julie Baird, Paul Dear,  Grant Hall, Zoe Lonergan, Marcus Dixon, Andrew Nash, Gravel Burns, and Adam Tabone for all your help. 

Connor Reeve and Adam Tabone inspecting the zine wall. 

The one and only Sean Mussett aka Gravel Burns.

Gravel Burns and John Bogaerts.

Captain John, Now and Then. 

Jason and Coco Campbell.

Tiera and Joe. 

Ben Cox and Jamie Hay.

Ben Cox and family in front of Ben’s photo by Aaron Brown on the Shralp poster. 

Creatures of the Deep

When I first watched this video on Vimeo, I was drawn in by the fantastic cinematography, and the atmosphere that is created in Alan Williams studio. The visuals hooked me but as his story, and discussion about process unfolded, I knew I was here for the full 8-minute duration. After watching it with the sound on, I muted the audio and watched it again, full screen and really looked at the way…