LOVE follows the last generation of love park inhabitants and reveals life as it was within this notorious urban plaza. Created back in ’65, the infamous PHILDELPHIA plaza has long been a source of tension between a deep rooted community and a police state controlled by a bias city government.
A victim of urban revitalization, the park closed in February 2016 for a $16 million complete renovation. But the diehard locals refused to leave, continuing to skate the plaza even as it turned to rubble. In the end, LOVE is a narrative about loss. Today, LOVE Park is remembered as one of the foremost landmarks of street skateboarding.
Jonathan Rentschler recently put together a photo book called “LOVE”, which documents the last days of the Plaza and it’s destruction. The book follows the last generation of the park’s inhabitants and tells the story of the locals who refused to leave, continuing to skate the plaza even during its demolition process.
You can now pre-order “LOVE” through Paradigm Publishing’s website, and check the video introduction shot by Jonathan Rentschler and edited by Nick Wnorowski.