Who he is: A former animator and visual set supervisor for film (including work for Earth: Final Conflict), Derek Lang is a self-taught commercial photographer, shooting for Toronto and London Fashion Weeks and Fab magazine. Best known in town for photographing the Hammer City Roller Girls from the league’s inception to the present, both on and off the rink. Lang cites Lichtenstein, David Trattles and Marvel Comics as his major aesthetic influences.
What moves him: Lang goes after shots that illustrate movement in the foreground and the background, and subject matter that is as real as it is raw. “It’s not just about the photographs, it’s about the stories. That’s what I want my work to reveal.”
On his subject: “I’ve been the unofficial, official photographer for the roller girls since their first bout in 2006,” says Lang. “It’s kind of like shooting a rock band; I get them on and offstage – both are part of their story.”
What the eff is a Roller Girl?
The Hammer City Roller Girls (HCRG) is an all female, skater operated, flat track roller derby league based in Hamilton, Ontario. Established in January 2006, the league currently boasts two home teams, the Harlots and the Death Row Dames, as well as an all-star travel team, "the EH! team". Learn more at www.hammercityrollergirls.ca or watch the EH! team take on Montreal's New Skids On The Block this Saturday, August 14th, at the first ever all Canadian WFTDA sanctioned flat track match up. The bout is happening at the Market Street Arena in Dundas - doors @6pm, Roller Derby action @7pm.
Are you a Roller Derby newbie?
Read Roller Derby 101: How to Watch a Bout for a primer on what goes down on the track.
