Michael Cirelli started skateboarding at the age of 8 years old and picked up a film camera at 16 to document and photograph his friends skateboarding through out the streets and on backyard ramps in Conneticut.
37 years later, photographing and filming skateboarding throughout the East Coast has become a lifelong passion. The culture of skateboarding has evolved and grown over the years, bring more popularity and notoriety as it recently appeared in the Olympics.
At the very core, skateboarding is at its purest forms in local cities throughout the USA. Michael Cirelli has spent countless years photographing in Boston, Hartford, CT, Manchester, NH, Philladelphia and New York City. In that time, Cirelli has also collaborated with companies such as Red Bull, Nike SB, DVS shoes, Venture trucks, Transworld Skateboarding Magazine, Thrasher Magazine and countless zines.
“My photographs and films deal with the topic of authenticity within the culture and traditions of skateboarding. These images were taken primarily on the East Coast, showcasing the rawness/grittiness of Skateboarding compared to other parts of the country. East Coast Skateboarding has been strongly influenced by 90’s hip-hop, graffiti, the cities, street wear / fashion and society as a whole. My films and photographs serve as a document/archive of these skaters activities, tattoo’s, style of skating and the places that molded and developed the expansion of skateboarding. My goal is to preserve the rawness of Skateboarding so that future generations of skaters understand the roots and traditions of East Coast Skateboarding.”