Skating with Gandhi, Mandela, Tutu

Johannesburg: Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are names one would associate with peace ... Less so skateboarding. But the faces of all three peace icons can be found gracing the skate boards created by South African Kent Lingeveldt.

The boards are part of the "Local Legends" series produced by Lingeveldt from his Cape Town workshop. The picture of Mahatma Gandhi has been included alongside Mandela and Tutu because of the years he spent in South Africa campaigning for the rights of its Indian population. Lingeveldt says that when he presented the Tutu board to the man whose face adorns it, the Nobel Peace Laureate was so taken with the gift that he decided to hang it inside his office, CNN reported. Lingeveldt specialises in making longboards -- a lengthier variant of the traditional skateboard. Completely self taught, he has gained fame for bringing customised decks to life. As founder of Cape Town-based brand Alpha Longboards, he is equipped scores of local and international riders with distinctive personalised boards. Working together with local illustrators, who decorate the boards with their eye-catching artwork, Lingeveldt prides himself on customisation. No two boards are the same, as each creation is tailored to the specific needs of each client -- taking into account everything from their height and shoe size to their skating ability and personal goals. "I can`t make a board for someone I don`t know," he says. "I want clients to come to me and then I actually customise something right for you. I don`t want you to walk out of a shop with an Alpha Longboard and be like, `oh, this isn`t what I need,`" he says. Always carrying his camera with him wherever he went, Lingeveldt decided a few years ago to begin shooting images professionally. Since then, his striking street images have been shown in exhibitions both at home and abroad, the report said. PTI