In the 90s, a video by skateboard company Alien Workshop saw then-pro-skateboarder Lennie Kirk soaring boldly across his urban landscape. 33 seconds in, he flies off a dumpster, lands on his head and suffers from a near-fatal brain injury that sends his life on a 180 down a road of religious fanaticism, violence, robbery, kidnap and a 13-year prison sentence.
When photographer Dennis McGrath started capturing images of Kirk almost 20 years ago, he had no idea that they would later be used to tell the rise and gnarly fall of one of the most infamous names in professional skateboarding. In his book Heaven, McGrath combines photographs, letters and ephemera to illustrate Kirk’s unruly life both on and off the ramps.
- Dazed Digital article by Jasmine Johnson Sept. 2015
Published by Seems Books, New York 2015