LOVE — The Last 3 Years of Love Park
Philadelphia’s Love Park was a staple of skateboarding that had been featured in countless videos for over three decades. It will be remembered as a cornerstone of the plaza movement. The loss of this legendary spot in 2016 was a huge blow that will be felt for years to come.
Jonathan Rentschler and Paradigm Publishing have produced a book that documents the final three years of Love Park as an epilogue to a place that skaters from around the world made a pilgrimage to visit.
“LOVE follows the last generation of LOVE Park inhabitants and reveals life as it was within this notorious urban plaza. The images, gathered over a three-year span, tell the story of a deeply rooted community shadowed by a police state and a biased city government.
“Ultimately the victim of urban revitalization, the park closed in February 2016 for a $16 million complete renovation. But the diehard locals refused to leave, continuing to skate the plaza even as it turned to rubble. In the end, LOVE is a narrative about loss.”
The book is currently available for pre-order for $85.00 and will be shipping next week.
