Photo: Bill Yates, R5, #6, 1972-73. Silver Gelatin Print. Collection of the Artist
In September 1972, Bill Yates began his final year at the University of Southern Florida, where he was pursuing a B.A. in Art and Photography. He bought his first medium format camera, a Yashica Mat, at a local pawnshop. Looking to test it out, he began driving along the back roads of Tampa, in search of discovery. He came upon the Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink. It was the place to be.
Bill Yates, R5, #10, 1972-73. Silver Gelatin Print. Collection of the Artist
Yates pulled up, met the owner, and asked if he could take photographs. The owner told him to come back that night—the place would be live. At that time, the Vietnam War was still raging, and the hippie vibes of the ‘60s stayed in the air. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll was in full swing as the sounds of California were moving east, bringing with them a life style best exemplified by Venice Beach. The roller skating rink was an indoor playground for a new generation.
From that first night, Yayes was hooked, and started going every weekend for a period of seven months, beginning a photodocumentary project that continued through May 1973, when he moved to Providence to enter school at Rhode Island School of Design.
Bill Yates, R26, #2, 1972-73. Silver Gelatin Print. Collection of the Artist
Forty years later, Yates rediscovered this work, over 780 photographs made over the course of seven months. In 2013, Yates entered the series into the Photolucida Critical Mass competition, where it placed in the Top 50. The work is now on view in “Bill Yates: Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink” at the Ogden Museum of South Art, New Orleans, through January 17, 2016.
“Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink” is a time capsule of the country coming of age, transitioning from the youthful idealism of the 1960s to the innocence lost that was to come as the ‘70s progressed. The people in Yates’ photographs mirror this, as they literally skate through childhood and adolescence without a care in the world. We are reminded of the pleasures of escape into a world of pleasure and fun, at a time when the sexual revolution was really hitting its stride and kids didn’t have a care in the world.
Bill Yates, R37, #9, 1972-73. Silver Gelatin Print. Collection of the Artist
Yates’ photographs were taken a year before Disney World opened, showing us a side of Floridian culture that is native to its shores. In Yates’ photographs we can feel the heat and humidity, smell the Spanish moss, and taste the Marlboro cigarettes being smoked with concern. At 26 years old, Yates was able to integrate himself into the scene, so that he could capture the crazy, sexy, cool kids on the scene. The result is an unforgettable archive of American life during a golden age.
“Bill Yates: Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink” is on view at the Ogden Museum of South Art, New Orleans, now through January 17, 2016.
Miss Rosen is a New York-based writer, curator, and brand strategist. There is nothing she adores so much as photography and books. A small part of her wishes she had a proper library, like in the game of Clue. Then she could blaze and write soliloquies to her in and out of print loves.
