Founded by Sam Roberts, Florecast is a limited edition print publication with a focus on skateboarding. The name, a portmanteau between floor and forecast, came from a friend assessing the floors suitability to skate after a night of rain. Documenting the sport through the medium of film photography, the magazine is an appreciation of the time, thought and precision behind each photograph. To a skateboarder, a metal rail or a concrete bank is seen in a different light and the photographs in Florecast encompass this; capturing beauty in the spaces and places seen as mundane urban landscapes in the eyes of others.
Fuelled by his love of traditional techniques and founded as a response to the decline of film in an increasingly digital age, Sam is also keen to point out that he doesn’t advocate film over digital, seeing the advantages and disadvantages of both mediums.
‘However, the fact that the featured works have been shot in a way where you can’t instantly check to see if you’ve got the right frame, whether a flash misfired, or if the lighting’s right until you’ve got your negatives or prints back from the lab, is something to be marveled at and celebrated in my opinion.’
Growing despondent with the standard of skate photography entering the mainstream, Sam felt that media at the time was more concerned with the ‘’gnar’ factor rather than the artistic aspects of the shots in their pages’. Believing that there are talented photographers out there who have nowhere to share their work, he created Florecast as a platform to showcase and celebrate those who still use the traditional analogue methods.
Also motivated by working the typical 9-5 day in a design job that had nothing to do with his ‘passions for skateboarding, photography or clean and clear design’; he decided that he wanted to produce something that he would want to own and keep himself.
Backed by his views about the tangibility of art in a digital age, he feels that there’s something far more gratifying about holding a magazine in your hands than seeing something on a screen and letting people know you like it through the click of a button, as digital content is easy to forget, easy to scroll through and somewhat devoid of meaning.
With a similar idea about written content, Sam tries to feature content that’s ‘interesting, funny or thought-provoking’:
‘There’s far too much emphasis at the moment on content marketing generated to gain click-throughs – all those ‘top ten’ lists etc. They’re great for a lunchtime’s web browsing, but our culture has far more going on than just that.’
‘Well-written pieces of journalism still have a place in what we do and that’s why I try to include it. In fact I’m hoping to do more of it in the future as the web gets more and more saturated in meaningless rubbish (bar Jenkem mag / Deaf Lens etc.)’
Now in its fifth issue, the launch will take place on Friday 28th August at Parlour Presents, alongside an exhibition of selected works from the publication, featuring renowned photographers:
Cameron Strand, Andreas Satzinger, Liam Furneaux, Maarten Van Viegen, Danny Parker, Dominic Palarchio, Sergej Vutuc, Reece Leung, Graham Tait, Sam Roberts, Stu Robinson, Tyler Orton, Terry Worona, Joseph Hall Staley and Matthias Somberg.
Prize-giving will also take place, to the skateboard shops that entered into this year’s Red Bull DIY competition – plus a selection of photos and video screening of the skating from the spots built by the crews over the summer.
WHERE: Parlour, 59 Hackney Road, London, E2 7NX.
WHEN: Friday 28th August, 8pm til late.
Join the event here.
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