Ed Templeton · I’m Obsessed With People · Louisiana Channel

Born on July 28, 1972, in Orange County, California, Templeton became a pivotal figure in skateboarding during the 1990s, known for his progressive street skating style and for founding the influential skateboard company, Toy Machine, in 1993. Beyond skateboarding, Templeton established himself in the contemporary art world with raw, candid photographs and expressive paintings. His work has been exhibited internationally in major galleries and museums.

In this film Ed Templeton shows us his fascination with random people on the street, when we follow him around taking photographs in Copenhagen.

He started taking photographs in 1994, when he fell in love with the work of Nan Goldin, and Larry Clarke – teaching him to “shoot his own circle”.

Templeton explains how he never partied or did drugs, but was always the nerd of the group, which let him to be in a spectator position, allowing him to capture these moments. He goes on to say that skateboarders are rough, and doing the sport takes a lot from you. Physically and mentally. “They’re jumping down 20 stairs and then drinking all night and getting wasted and getting up the next day and doing it again, normal athletes are training and drinking water and being safe and these guys are just destroying their bodies inside and outside”.

With his photography from inside this skateboarding world, Ed Templeton is trying to portray both the ups and downs of skateboarding. Both the fame and the boredom, and what these kids did to combat their boredom.

Ed Templeton was interviewed by Nanna Rebekka on the occasion of the opening of his show Wires Crossed at NILS STÆRK in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Camera: Simon Weyhe

Edited by: Astrid Agnes Hald

Produced by: Marc-Christoph Wagner

Copyright: Louisiana Channel, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, 2025