From 1986 to 1990, professional skateboarder and photographer, Ed Templeton, went to Huntington Beach High School (HBHS). His popularity comes from the creation of his skateboarding brand, Toy Machine. Whether it was indoors or outdoors, upstairs or downstairs, Templeton used every skate-able place on campus.
HBHS played a major role in Templeton’s upbringing, for both him and his friends. It was both their favorite skate spot and their place of education, so it was a bit of a love-hate relationship. Templeton took an art class during his time in high school which was influential in his path to becoming an artist. Along with being a professional skateboarder, he’s also a highly talented photographer, “I didn’t take photo [class] there, but a lot of my friends did, so I hung around in the class a little bit,” which he said in his interview.
When walking around the campus, on almost every ledge, bench and rail, you’ll find small concrete blocks that stick out from the rest of the structure; that’s not for aesthetics, those are skate stoppers. When Templeton went to HBHS, they weren’t there yet.
“This is the age-old problem with skateboarding. The people who own the property that people are skating on hate it because it scratches up the cement and leaves marks, and they worry someone is gonna get hurt on their property and sue them. So as skaters, we are constantly battling these facts. I wish schools that have good skate spots would realize that letting the skaters skate would be a net positive because we tend to respect the places we skate and not litter or graffiti there,” said Templeton.
Many of the original skate spots at HBHS are no longer there because the architecture has changed and been made skate-proof. However, even after 30 years, there are many places that still stand.
There were lockers on campus created for skateboards since many students would ride them to school, but they were taken away during Templeton’s high school years because the school thought they increased the amount of skating on campus, “At one point, the school created lockers for the skateboards, but then they felt that it increased skating on campus so they took them away.” Because of this, Templeton and his friends would hide their boards off-campus or leave them at a friend’s house, and after school, grab them to go skate at the basketball courts. Inevitably though, they’d end up back at the school and skating there instead.
“In the mid 80s, skateboarding was having a miniature renaissance, and the basketball courts across the street became a spot where local kids would bring ramps and obstacles from all over Southern California to meet there on Friday and Saturday nights,” said Templeton.
At the basketball courts, people would bring all sorts of different skateboarding obstacles to create a complete mini skatepark for their mini weekend skateboarding renaissance. This DIY skatepark was called Pay and Play Racquetball because right next to it was an indoor racquetball area where you’d pay to play indoors. While Templeton would mostly skate at the high school and basketball courts across the street, he would also skate all over Huntington Beach in places like Mesa View Middle School, Dwyer Middle School and downtown under the pier. He and his friends would also take the bus to Newport or La Mirada to go skate at the fun places they could find there.
Skateboarding was seen almost everywhere around Huntington Beach, but wasn’t popular in the zeitgeist of the time. Templeton said, “Skaters were not popular, and Jocks would try to beat us up all the time. Of course, certain people liked to watch skating, but for the most part, I think we were seen as a nuisance.”
Post High School Photography
Templeton’s photography is impressive, and he mostly shoots downtown at the pier and beach on Main Street, and around the town at strip malls. Regarding his favorite type of photography, Templeton said, “I like photographing people and the strange things that we do. The interesting clothes and styles people wear, and just in general, documenting the human condition.” He likes doing street photography by taking candid photos of life in the streets. There are many different types of photography but the photography he finds most visually appealing, he said, “I enjoy documentary photography that sheds light on particular places and subcultures.”
Professional Skateboarding
Templeton became a professional skateboarder during his last year of high school, in 1990. After graduation in 1992, he tried to start a skateboarding company called TV with a friend, which fell apart. In 1993, Templeton first created Toy Machine, his famous skateboarding brand which still thrives to this day, not out of want but out of necessity. At the time, he didn’t have a job and wanted to create a skate company that he could make all the decisions for, and already had a few friends who wanted to ride for it. Templeton said, “The idea was actually the blending of two different names, toy skateboards or machine skateboards. I was asking a friend which one he liked better, and he said why not both and so Toy Machine was born.”
The skateboarding scene of Huntington Beach has played such a huge role in Ed Templeton’s skateboarding career, and his influence has inspired numerous people attending HBHS to follow in his footsteps.
