Perth Voice Interactive

PORTRAITS of Freo’s skating community appeared at the world-famous Woolstores Ledge this week to celebrate the iconic skate spot which faces an unknown future.

Freo-based photographer Duncan Wright says he wanted to document the soul of the skating ledge, which runs parallel to Cantonment Street at the base of the Woolstores building. 

“Woolstores is such an iconic heritage skate spot and I think that should be celebrated,” Mr Wright said. 

“It’s a beautiful building and a real asset of Fremantle.

“There’s not many skate spots that have been around that long, which is something really significant in itself.”

The images are portraits of Woolstores’ skaters – a tribute to the community in Fremantle and worldwide – who’ve uses the Ledge to develop their skill for decades. 

“People from all around the world including top professionals have all been to Woolies because it’s such a perfect little ledge for skating,” Mr Wright said. 

“It’s a pretty special spot.” 

Mr Wright captured a plethora of Woolstores characters, including people who have been skating the Ledge for 30 years and have now started to bring their children. 

The portraits represent the ever-growing and diverse community who skate the Ledge, whether young or old, as well as an increasing number of girls and women honing their craft. 

“I guess photography for me is a way of preserving history and culture,” Mr Wright said.

The future of the Ledge is in murky territory as the Woolstores building is set to be redeveloped by property developer Hesperia. 

Mr Wright acknowledges the Woolstores need to be developed “to a point”, but hopes the Ledge is preserved as an iconic feature of not only the Freo skating community, but worldwide visitors. 

“For me, it’s about preserving cultural heritage and that identity of Fremantle, but also acknowledging that buildings need to be developed, especially Woolstores,” he said, “because if Woolstores falls down then we’ll lose everything. I just think it would be a shame if when things developed, we lose a sense of our own identity.”

Developer Hesperia said “no final decisions” had been made about the development and whether the Ledge will be saved as part of the new Woolstores building. 

“When we purchased the buildings, we were very aware that in its long vacant state some very important cultural communities were able to thrive at the space,” the company said in a statement.

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER