17 Dec 2021

Profile's Neighborhood Crawl - Richmond Photo Journal

Punk. BMX. Parallel, but also inseparable subcultures.

Words by Matt Coplon | Photos by the crew | In conjunction with Profile

My first trip to Richmond was in the winter of 1995. Cold, of course, I remember that first and foremost. But what made a lasting first impression was the corridor of red brick buildings that sat on each side of I-95, as if you were driving through an urban canyon -- I-95, the river cutting through the cityscape.

To someone born and raised in Florida, a state built from wood and cinder blocks, red brick anything was a novelty.

A connection with distant history to some? Maybe even for me as well (initially), but what they quickly became synonymous with, was a certain DiY ethic that has remained embedded in Richmond since my initiation into its city limits.

Richmond's mid 90's, DiY music scene thrived. Avail. Four Walls Falling. Four Hundred Years. Engine Down.

All surrounded by a socio-politically aware punk scene, an inclusive community (very much including the BMX and skate scene) that easily drew an 18 year old Floridian into its orbit.

It is an ethos.

And that ethos, 26 years later, is still very much mixed in with the aesthetic of those ancient bricks.

Punk. BMX.

Parallel, but also inseparable subcultures.

Shane Leeper as seen by Dillon Leeper.

Dan Conway. Rail celebration.

Dan Conway, diary of a mad man.

Eric Holladay. Icarus style. High Noon at the Leeper Compound.

A half an hour after this photo was shot, this ditch and a portion of DT Richmond suffered a torrential downpour and a flash flood.

Matt Coplon, Taking a break from behind the camera.

I'd met the Leeper Brothers well over a decade ago. In true punk form, we corresponded for years before we actually met. And on the first meeting, it turned into an instant connection, with their doors wide open with hospitality.

We bonded over music. We bonded over bmx.

The ties that bind that red brick ethos.

Punk. BMX. Friendship. A continuum.

This was the first of dozens of trips to come, to the point where that old brick city feels like a second home.

Geographically, Richmond exists as a hub, as we have set out from there on multiple road trips up and down the East Coast.

And it thrives, perpetually; Richmond playing host to events, dozens of such, organized by Steve Crandall, as ground zero for Powers' Bike shop, the setting for RadShare and Drop In Coffee.

It made sense that this old city would become the fourth locale for Profile's Neighborhood Crawl.

In actuality, it probably should have been the first...