Chances are high that you met André during a longboard event in Europe, sneaking at people, having a small chat, taking photos and smiling.

André Kniepkamp is a self-tought photographer based in Cologne, Germany. As a contrast to his 9-5-job as a motiondesigner and illustrator he started taking pictures of the longboard scene around his hometown. The project Faces of Longboarding was born and quickly grew as he started travelling from mountains to molehills, seeing new faces, meeting old friends and taking photos with one of his vintage analog cameras. André was never interested in shiny, well polished action-shots, he prefers to take portraits in a natural, calm way. He takes his time, never uses any flashes, just the skater, the availlable light and a camera, often loaded with some super-grainy black and white film.

Amanda Powell- USA

Peter – The Netherlands

Deborah Keser – Germany

Luutse Jochem Brouwer – The Netherlands

Brian S. Peck – USA

After two years of collecting pictures on his blog www.facesoflongboarding.tumblr.com he wants to return some of the love he received during his project and print a photobook with a best-of all the portraits he took so far. It‘s going to be a hardcover book with 120 pages containing over 150 photos. A book for the scene, a close look at people who really love that lifestyle, who travel from one end of europe to the other with no money, no sponsor, but tons of love and dedication.

Janine La Franca – Germany

Kody Noble – USA

Marte & Femke Boska – The Netherlands

Felix Langenfeld – Germany

To make his dream a reality, André just launched a crowd-funding campaign. Click on the link to check it out http://igg.me/at/facesoflongboarding and be part of it by preordering a book, getting any perk, liking his Facebook fan page and spreading the word on your social networks!

Melanie Golz – Germany

Alberto Alepuz – Spain

Simon Arsenidis – Germany

Kristina Prasice – Slovakia

Niklas Konstanz – Germany

Slidejam

Valeria Kechichian – Argentina

Janine’s helmet

Frank – Germany

This project is absolutely amazing and we can’t wait to have the book in our hands. You shouldn’t either. Click on the link and get it now. Support your scene supporters!

André, the master & his camera. Maria Arndt photo.