The Fabulous Rollerskaters of 1970's Florida

[TransitJohn]

Photographer Bill Yates had an amazing photography project on his hands, but he just didn’t know it—for about 40 years. In 1972, Yates, then in his final year at the University of South Florida, spent seven months photographing young revelers at the Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink in Tampa, Fla. He mostly forgot about the work up until recently, when he unearthed about 800 negatives from his archives and scanned them. The result is a delightful time capsule from a simpler, groovier era. “When I shot it, I was 26. I wasn't thinking about documentation. I was just seeing something that looked interesting and somewhat out of the ordinary,” Yates said.

The project started simply as an experiment. Yates had recently purchased a Yashica Mat camera at a pawnshop and was looking to test it out. Driving through Hillsborough County, Fla., on a fall afternoon, he passed an unassuming old wooden building and decided to venture inside. He returned a few hours later and shot his first rowdy night of fun at the rink. The next night, he came back again. He was hooked. “It just became this routine,” Yates said. “I'd never done an extended series of work like this. I'd never used a medium-format camera before. I was mastering the equipment.”

Slate.com

[DirkGently]

1. Cool! -- thanks for posting this. n/t

[shenmue]

2. Neat!

Thanks.

[independentpiney]

3. I think I may know the then girl in the 7th photo at the link

She looks very much like pictures I've seen of my daughters ex-boyfriends mom in her younger days. My daughter and her are still close, I'm going to have my daughter show it to her

[steve2470]

4. memories

Never lived in Tampa but I was in that age bracket back then (the teen one lol).

[warrior1]

5. the second picture

girl on the right is flipping him off