curators of self
bruno long
THERE ARE TWO WAYS OF DOING EVERYTHING IN LIFE: YOUR WAY OR SOMEONE ELSE’S.
Consider the world of action sports media. When skating and BMX were in their infancies, athletes took control and created their own world of visual media. The stories were raw. The music was fast and the shots were strewn together in a haphazard way, yet those pieces are what cemented the counterculture of what were considered fringe sports. What was once a scene dominated by contests began shifting focus to video segments that played over and over in VCRs all across America. Athletes built themselves into more powerful commodities by being the entertainment versus only being in competitions.
Fast-forward 30 years to modern-day mountain biking, and our sport is going through puberty. We don’t have the artistic following of skate and surf, and we lack the hardcore grunge factor of BMX. This process of self-discovery has led to a plethora of varied media from the mid ’90s to present day. We’ve had our “Kranked,” “Earthed,” “Ride to the Hills” and our “New World Disorders.” The Collective films ushered in an era of deeper storytelling and character focus, and now we have bike brands dedicated to pumping out beautifully produced films featuring the best riders from around the world. Anthill Films, Clay Porter,
