The Red Bench Speaker Series presents, The Golden Era of East Coast Snowboarding. Join award-winning photographer Gary Land on the virtual Red Bench on Thursday, October 20th at 7pm via Zoom.

Gary will share his latest work, East Street Archives, a photographic journey and his personal love letter to snowboarding. In the Spring of 2020 Gary began sifting through his archived 35mm slides of 90’s snowboarding images. This resulted in a 437-page book dedicated to the riders of snowboarding’s golden era.

Gary grew up in Virginia Beach taking photos of surfing and skating. In the early 90’s, as he thumbed through an early edition of Eastern Edge Magazine the idea of surfing on snow was the motivation he needed to pack his car, drive north, and relocate to Killington, VT.

He became deeply immersed in the snowboard scene. With a simple 35mm camera he rode and photographed his friends all over Vermont and beyond. The snowboard industry was growing rapidly and in the 90’s Gary’s photos and writing were in great demand. He eventually landed at Stratton as photo editor for Eastern Edge Magazine.

We’ll hear from Gary about his career trajectory photographing the likes of Allen Iverson, Venus Williams, Tom Brady, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Pharrell, and hundreds more, and why he named his new book East Street Archives.

Joining Gary on the Red Bench is long-time friend Chris Copley, who will moderate the discussion. Chris spent 20 years working for Burton Snowboards, traveling the world as the Pro Team Manager. In 1990 he began announcing at the US Open at Stratton, which led to 12 years of witnessing, commenting, and heckling the best riders in the world.

Gary and Chris will discuss Gary’s humble beginnings, his professional trajectory, and the path back to rediscovering his snowboarding roots and the launch of East Street Archives.

East Street Archives is available for purchase at VTSSM’s online shop.

RSVP here to receive a ZOOM invite. Virtual doors to the Museum open and the discussion begins at 7:00 PM. The event is complimentary, but a $10 donation from each guest is encouraged, greatly appreciated, and helps us keep this series going. You can also purchase a 2022/23 Red Bench Series Season Pass here.

Series sponsors include Schoeller Textil, r.k. Miles, AJ's Ski & Sports, Sisler Builders, and Vermont Ski + Ride.  

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