Roller Derby – Palace of Fine Arts
The 2018 Bay Area Derby roller derby season started this Spring with two bouts at San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. I photographed a bout in March and another in April.
This is the first season that Bay Area Derby has skated at the Palace of Fine Arts. BAD changed their teams, uniforms, and regular season home. The Palace of Fine Arts was originally built for the 1915 World’s Fair. It is one of the few remaining structures; it is definitely the most recognizable.
I have been photographing roller derby since 2011. Sometimes I wonder if I have been doing this too long, but I felt younger next to some of the structures at the Palace of Fine Arts.
My fourteen year old daughter attended the first bout between San Francisco and Berkeley. When she first started watching derby, she liked the vendors. Now she is looking for the opportunity to join a team.
Now that my daughter is looking to become a skater, I am starting to feel old again. As a derby photographer, I see the contact as it happens and during the editing process. I know that she can handle it, but I might stop shooting once she begins skating.
On April 7th, I photographed the Oakland Outlaws and Berkeley Resistance bout. Oakland won.
There are many beautiful spots at the new location. I could photograph the people of derby without ever photographing any action.
