Acre Presents: Alex Olson
Acre: Could you introduce yourself & tell us about what you've been up to?
AO: Alex Olson. Fuck, I don't know. I just had a kid, so time is a mist. Basically, I wake up, take care of my kid, and then try to get work done. I Just try to feed my kid and figure out what's next. There's no real schedule right now, unfortunately. Day by day. They say days are long, months are short.
Acre: As your responsibilities have accumulated over the years, how has that shifted your relationship with working and skating?
AO: Tricks are for kids basically. I don't have time to skateboard. I've done enough of that. Right now it's about figuring out how to make money, which is my least favorite aspect of the human brain. But it's a necessity. You know - it seems like within the last 2 years the fence got extremely tall. You're like “What the fuck happened?” The rug got pulled out from under everyone. I'm kind of just trying to get by with everything going on in my life.
Acre: I was wondering if you still skated much - I am curious about the concept of being at the peak of your powers, and how your relationship with that thing changes over time. Sometimes you develop a relationship that's different down the line from what you originally had. Right? How's your relationship with skating shifted?
AO: It's not my job anymore. Okay, I started at 12. I wasn't getting paid for it then, but that's when I started. You're just like - this takes an insane amount of time, and I'm trying to run 2 companies. You're just like what else can I do, you know? I guess your peak strength is when you're 25 to 30. And then once you pass 30, I've just read recently that your muscles start declining. And yeah, and you're not also keeping up with it. You're also like, well, I feel really bad or I feel like my strength is gone. Then you're just constantly chasing something that I'm not gonna be able to achieve anymore. You kind of just take the backseat and say “Alright, that was then.” Let's figure out the next thing.
Acre: I feel that way sometimes with like the shit that I love, where like I'm just not nearly as compelled by it today. Like there's this point where I'm just ready to move on past it. I used to dream about playing in the NBA one day, but you grow up and realize the truth.
AO: How tall are you?
Acre: I'm 6”1 - with shoes on!
AO: With shoes on! I’ve never heard that. 
Acre: What are you into lately that you’ve found compelling?
AO: I mean, at least for me, I had this career. I had a lot of the accolades and all the achievements that one would strive for, I guess, in skateboarding. Then you talk to other people and you're like, “Dude, I had a full fucking career already.” I need to figure out what I like next. I love surfing, but I'm not gonna be a pro surfer. I mean, there's other routes - my uncle was a shaper, but he hates surfing. It's really grueling, it's a passion basically. It's fun, it's amazing, but I don't know if that's the best career choice to provide for a family. I'm sure it can be done, but everything's so competitive now. Everything's just so strange with how people make money.
Acre: Do you see that with Bianca and 917? Some of the small businesses out here are very competitive with one another. What does that look like in your world?
AO: Yeah, we're an old company now. We're in our 11th year - they have their ups and downs. We’ve always been a really small team as well. Right now, it's just me and 1 other person. It’s extremely hard. We're in this weird time - it's like a weird recession that we're in, but we're not, but we are. You're just like, what the fuck? It's way more competitive today. I think when I started, a lot of kids were just seeing this for the first time. Now they've taken it to the next level with Instagram and TikTok and all that. I sound dated, but it feels like they've created their own language. I’m from the generation where ‘this’ is how you can use social media to profit or use it in a creative way. I’m not saying that I was first, but I was definitely of the first generation to do it. Now the new generation is taking it to the fucking max level. I don't know how to do it anymore. I’m puzzled - it's like a fucking a rubik's cube that like you can't figure out.
Acre: That's something I've thought about a lot recently - the ease of access that we have with culture today with TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, like our entire world's online now. Do you find yourself yearning for the days where culture was harder to come by?
AO: Yeah, you had to fucking study. Oh, I'm interested in this, now I have to read about it. Basically, the only cultures that are left to research are fucking like conspiracy theories and skateboarding. I know that's not true, but those are two things you have to actually sit there and read through fucking forums about. 
Acre: Let me shift to art and photography - I’ve always felt there was a connection between skating and photography. I mean, there's a lot of capital P photographers such as Ed Templeton, Greg Hunt, Jason Lee, who also skated - what do you think the connecting line is?
AO: I just think those guys probably were always out, you know what I mean? They were on tour or whatever. It was a means of documentation. Now it's in our phone and we do it by video or digitally, but those guys were out there prior to that. They just stuck with that format. I can't speak for them, but I think that's really it - I want to capture this. I'm interested in capturing this image. They're getting a response back to whatever they're capturing and they're interested in that. It just comes from that place I think. They come from a time where that's how you documented everything. Now you watch a concert and everyone's phone is high in the sky. Which isn't bad, I just think it decontextualizes the time or place and you're like, are you capturing the moment? Or are you keeping it to show someone? That's the thing - times have changed. Look at where I was or this is what I was doing. Showing people where you are - it's a status thing - more so than a documentation thing. Think about a fashion show, they’re the mecca of that. Who's going? What famous person's wearing the most ridiculous costume? Who's sitting in the front row? The clothes are secondary at this point, you know what I mean?
Acre: Absolutely - I just think there's something really cool going on between skating and photography. I’ve always been a huge fan of the guys.
AO: No, absolutely. It's unfortunate that magazines don't carry as much weight to them as they used to. It's such an experience holding a magazine and viewing the photo versus looking at it on your phone. Actually getting a photo in the magazine - that was always one of my favorite things. That was one thing that as a kid I'd always be enamored by - photos in magazines and their composition and everything. The light and the colors. I always wanted it to be as good as it could be - as good as the references I had in mind. Maybe it's not gone - it just has a completely different pull than it used to. That could be me getting older, but I think it's just the way that we consume.
Acre: One more question - I think it's really cool that you use 6x6 a lot. Are you shooting on a Hasselblad?
AO: Yes, 6x6. I used to shoot a lot more and this Hasselblad was my favorite camera because it's so well designed. I have it right here. * Holding camera into frame * There's another fucking point to my my whole thing - another thing that the phone has devalued. I don't want to carry a fucking camera around. You know what I mean? Like, it's great, the whole experience and all that. But I don't have that same connection anymore, really. Ed Templeton and Greg and all those guys - they had to bring cameras everywhere because that was the only format they had available at the time. Trust me, no shade to like people who shoot, like absolutely shoot with a Hasselblad if you can afford it. But it can get so expensive.
Acre: Absolutely. That’s about all we had. This was really fun - thanks for letting us ask you some questions.
AO: No problem - thanks for having me!
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