COLLECTIONS: Skate Rats

Less than 500 people live in the town of Rutland, OH, but hundreds more migrate in and out of its borders every year to visit one 88-acre farm called Skatopia. Aside from being one of the most well-known backyard skate parks in the world, Skatopia is a refuge for the disenfranchised. People of all ages come for days or for months to experience the fringe culture that has developed there. Binge drinking, casual sex, and rampant destruction of cars or property of any kind are the hallmarks of this uninhibited retreat.