A photo posted by glen E. friedman Ⓥ (@glenefriedman) on
Next thing i know i got a fist in the face! And im on the ground in a low lit area and i got six Jheri curled teenagers lookin down at me, and I'm asking WHAT THE FUCK? Next thing i know another fist in the face and the kid says "give us your jacket!" And I'm like what the fuck again, "there's only one jacket like this in LA, it's even got my name sewn in it, it was given to me by the group, what the fuck are you gonna do with this?" BAM! I get hit in the face again, "Shut up and give us the fucking jacket!" Now i'm thinking to myself, damn there's six kids and one jacket, these kids are gonna fuck me up! Then im thinking oh shit my license and credit card are in my small wallet in my inside breast pocket, fuck, I don't wanna have to deal with getting a new license at the DMV and calling up to halt my credit card, FUCK! I get hit again, "Give us the fucking jacket!" " OK, OK, OK, here take the fucking jacket, but as I'm taking it off i reach in to grab my license and wallet... Next thing i know they all run away...
WHAT THE FUCK? Cool, i still got my jacket and my ID, etc and continue walking home... Like a fool i get home and after putting some ice on my face i head out in my car to find these kids (leaving my jacket in the car) to find out what the fuck were they thinking? Lucky for me probably i never found them...
An hour later i head out to a night club called Power Tools, the cool hang at that point in time, half the dust brothers posse DJ'd there before there was such a thing as the dust brothers, i run into my homie ICE-T and tell him the story... He says "Glen you're crazy, you wanted to go back and ask them what they were thinking?? They weren't thinking you fool, thats why they do shit like that!" And as for them running away? "Obviously they thought when you went to get your ID and shit out of your pocket, they thought you were pullin' out a 'gat' and that you were gonna shoot them!" Nooo waaaay... Damn, street knowledge lesson #434... I still got my coat, and thats all the truth.
We're proud to present a collaboration between legendary photographer Glen E. Friedman and OBEY. Glen has shot some of the most memorable and meaningful photos in skateboarding, punk rock, hip hop and more over the last 30 years. Always with an eye for perfection and living by the definition of integrity, Glen has amassed a body of work including album covers for the Beastie Boys, Public Enemy, and Suicidal Tendencies. He was there to shoot Minor Threat, Bad Brains and the DC scene. Glen was in back yard pools taking pictures of Tony Alva and the Dogtown crew as they changed skateboarding.
Over the years, Glen and Shepard have collaborated on a number of projects, most of which were never available on apparel. Now Glen has released a new book, My Rules, and we thought it was a perfect time to release some of those collaborations. So in support of My Rules we are releasing 4 of those works, each representing a different genre. There is Tony Alva from Dogtown and skateboarding, Henry Rollins from Black Flag, Cornell West the political activist and Public Enemy for hip hop.
SIMPLY ICONIC - not the totally un great photograph taken by Robert Mapplethorpe - But of my old friend Nick Marden's Jacket that's the subject - for us punks in the east village 78-82 there was nothing cooler than Nick's hand painted jacket.
Dressing well is not necessarily all it takes to have style. So what is the relationship between being stylish and wearing clothing? Listen to what Dr. Cornel West has to say on the subject