Trade edition is out of print. Limited edition copies are available.

Classic documentary photography, at its best, is a transcendent path back to the people of another place and time. Sweetheart Roller Skating Rink is a royal road to that special time in 1972-1973 — when the love generation in America was at its height. The U.S. was reeling from years of war and turbulent social change and progress, but the early 70s was still a time of innocence and exploration. Sweetheart shows us the joyful vigor, fashion, and play of that young crowd searching for fun, escape, and identity in a roller rink on the outskirts of Tampa, Florida.

Bill Yates’ Sweetheart is a recently uncovered masterpiece that reveals, in a candid and clear-eyed way, a time that you only thought you knew. The photographic gaze of the twenty-five-year-old Yates is exceptional. Freshly returned from his tour of military service, Yates was still young enough to understand and relate to this crowd – but no longer part of their world. There is a raw power of deep seeing here. His camera and stance toward his subjects assumes nothing. And therefore it reveals everything. This document is one for the ages. We are fortunate to have it, and Fall Line Press is grateful to be associated with bringing it to you.

About the Limited Edition 

This special limited edition book and gelatin silver photograph publication is comprised of two sets of forty-five copies. Each set includes a numbered and signed book and one of two signed prints (see below).

Each archival gelatin silver print is 6 x 6 inches on 8 x 10-inch Ilford warmtone glossy fibre base paper, signed verso, and was made especially for this publication by master printer Gus Kayafas, Palm Press, Inc., Boston, under the supervision of the photographer. The book and photograph are presented in a handmade archival clamshell case with a letterpress colophon.

Limited Edition A: Three Girls

Limited Edition B: Couple Skating