Many thanks go out to Glen as he has defined the action of keeping things real, well beyond a mere slogan. Here, he has been generous enough to share his thoughts and experiences on Cherry Hill Skatepark.

CHSP.COM
A decent portion of your published work documents many a professional
skater at Cherry Hill. How often were you there to take photographs:

GLEN:
I wouldn't call it a decent portion of my published work, but the fact that I was the only real worker from the mag (SkateBoarder) that was there consistently may have given that impression to the locals. I went to Cherry Hill a few times a month from the time it had opened and through the first year or so before I moved back to California. When I did visit Cherry Hill I took photos most of the time but I also skated some.

I actually had to move back to Fort Lee, New Jersey (Fort Lee is just across the GW Bridge from New York City, for those who don't know) in 1978 for my junior and senior years of high school, after living in L.A. from ’71 to ‘77. – It was just by luck that my mom had shipped my brother and I back to live with my father just when CHSP opened up. Coming from West L.A. to New Jersey seemed like the worst curse ever for me at the time, but the opening of CHSP sure did help a lot.

CHSP.COM
Can you elaborate on any of the “outstanding” locals from Cherry Hill:

GLEN:
If my memory serves me correct, I remember Papo from NYC, Mondo of course, the Bentley Brothers and some of the Seaside Heights locals, Terry Sullivan, Brian Maples and others. Victor Perez, Jaime Godfrey and Mike Jesolowski all from the old horrible Philadelphia Skatepark. Chris Cook and Jaime Mouseberg from Long Island. Tom Groholski. John Woodstock from Oyster Bay NY was one of the most respected old East Coast pros. Long Island styler Luke Moore of course. There was this guy who did the gnarliest lay backs, even gnarlier than Jay Smith's! I think his name was Jamie Milner (?).
(Interviewers note: CHSP’s locals were skaters from across the PA, NJ and NY metro-region and GEF isn’t just dropping names here; these cats were “outstanding” in their ripping abilities. Check your back issues, check the comments, check the recollections.)

CHSP.COM
I am sure that when you were taking skate photographs that your mind was calculating the way in which a skater or skaters adapted to a given terrain/skate spot. Can you elaborate on how your subjects would gain an increased vibe/animation while they were acclimating to the terrain of Cherry Hill:

GLEN:
People from all over the world were just so stoked that there was a park which had such great transitions and the incredible EGG BOWL, that was the masterpiece of all time if not at least that era. Everyone was just blown away, that in a town thousands of miles from the next best park, that there was the new greatest park in the WORLD. And lot's of the time it inspired some of the California and Florida pros to try new shit when they came alone since their local home scene wasn't there to vibe. Cherry Hill became a proving ground for some. Kind of an indoor skating oasis.

(Interviewers note: GEF knows and IS living skate history. Shame on the VANS corporation for their rumors of and failing to build an EGG BOWL replica at their Moorestown, NJ site [which is situated on the same roadway as the once infamous CHSP]). Shame on the VANS corporation for too much investment in the Seattle Mariners and too little investment in their targeted demographic.)

CHSP.COM
Unlike places such as FDR (Philly) and Burnside (Portland), Cherry Hill was a very sectional skatepark. What sections brought out the best in a skater and were there any apparent differences in the sections preferred by the locals as opposed to the visiting pros and can CHSP be compared to these organic DYI skateparks:

GLEN:
I don't think in a paying skatepark of that time it would have been possible to have all those open areas of anarchy possible like Burnside or FDR. I remember locals tearing up all the pools and the 3/4 pipe, but actually that's what was so great about that place, most of it was really good, only the one deep keyhole wasn't perfect. However, some like Olson, Bowman, Salba (Steve Alba) and Dave Bentley were still able to rip that keyhole up. But of course the best visiting pros stuck in the Egg bowl almost exclusively.

GLEN:
Jay’s style and abilities are like no one else's I had ever seen and even to this day he remains unique. He had more 'go for it" than anyone. Make or break in the moment did not matter, it was just 100% go for it, 100% skateboarder that was and still is Jay.

I must admit, photo wise I blew it at Cherry Hill in the early weeks, my stuff came out all too dark and that sucked big time. l lost a ton of shots due to bad lighting, remember it was the first indoor park I ever had to shoot at that I could remember. It wasn't easy at first, but later on I got the technique wired by using a double flash contraption I put together. So I might have shot Jay but I don't think any thing came out, I’ll look again next time I'm at my archive in L.A. (If there was anything great it would have made it into the DogTown book – I fucked up that time.)

CHSP.COM
Your skate photos have a different quality to them when compared to the
skate photos of your peers/contemporaries. In your words "what makes your skate photos SPEAK to the viewer":

GLEN:
The skater’s perspective, consciousness of composition, character, intensity and timing all wrapped into one, with major emphasis on style (when it's a good one). I also had this great sense of responsibility on my shoulders that I needed to expose an emotional aspect and make things look as radical as possible, to not only stoke skaters who would see the work, but to excite non-skaters as well. I wanted to blow people away, I wanted people to see what the fuck we were doing was like nothing else that had ever been seen anywhere, exposing an emotional aspect (facial expressions in the skaters) helped get the feeling through to anyone with heart.

CHSP.COM
In your view is skateboarding an art or sport:

GLEN:
Short answer: It's an athletic art form. Certainly a major inspiration in my life and countless millions of others.

CHSP.COM
Did you have a contract with any of the skate magazines or did you do yourwork on "spec":

GLEN:
It was just on spec with SkateBoarder in the very early days, but soon thereafter when the other mags were coming out, SkateBoarder listed me as a contributor and started to give me free film and a small monthly retainer. As a teen-ager I was stoked big time, Got lots of important shots of big moments published, but often my work got over looked because some of the other photogs had more financial responsibilities than me and the editors took this into account on occasion, politics as usual in business was lame back then too. Luckily people now have my books to see some of the great stuff that never got exposed to the extent it should have back in the day.

CHSP.COM
Do you consider yourself to be an artist or journalist:

GLEN:
An artist; no doubt. My work is most often created to inspire but also to help satisfy a personal need to capture a moment in time and frame it in a way to help a story or moment be recognized in the way I saw it, the way I attempted to perfect it for viewing, by myself and for others who were not as lucky as I to be in there in that moment I was, to see in another time.

CHSP.COM
Do you consider yourself and your work to be an influence on the popularity
of skate documentation as it stands today:

GLEN:
Well, I was definitely there to help create some of the most classic skate images of all time, so there may be some inspiration at least to others. I think the style and later exposure of my work helped to bring a lot of people into greater recognition of the art of skateboarding and perhaps the documenting of it, but direct influence 20+ years later may not be so evident. A lot of the photography now in skating is stale and un-inspiring, but every once in awhile I'll see a shot where that 'spark' comes through and it'll give me hope that there's still some one out there pouring their heart and love of skating into how they portray it. That always makes the difference.