Author Description

Wild man Ari Marcopoulos crossed time zones incessantly while documenting the non-linear lives of one of the first 21st-century tribes: snowboarders. Rell Sun once called surfers the Gypsies of the Earth because they travel more and consume less. Snowboarders are the evolutionary offshoots of these nomads, who follow the seasons in search of what is embedded in their DNA. "Transitions and Exits" documents much of the time these young nomads spend travelling to the Nirvana of fresh powder and perfect jumps. And the waiting in Purgatory: riders kindle their boredom with hours, even days of contemplation. It's the time when helicopters are grounded, low pressures are laying new carpets of snow, and the weather channel is only hinting at what's to come. In snowboarding there are many prodigies. They are young, come from California and Scandinavia, earn serious dough for play, and speak a unified language around boarding and the latest electronic gadgets. But after hearing the crack of a compound fracture sounding off the walls of a perfectly shaped halfpipe--the price paid for mastering a new trick--it's hard to label this life glamorous. With photos and digital video grabs of the world's top snowboarders--all of whom are under the age of 25--"Transitions and Exits" showcases, in a hardcore artist's book and DVD, a brilliant take on a surreal world, much like Larry Clark's "Tulsa."