An action sports photograph showing Jake Ilardi does a backside 50/50 at the Tampa Museum of Art in Tampa, Florida. Captured in a wide horizontal shot, professional skateboarder Jake Ilardi grinds down a long metal handrail adjacent to an outdoor concrete staircase. He wears a white sleeveless tank top, dark pants, and athletic shoes, balancing with both arms outstretched as he slides along the rail. The staircase is flanked by a lush green grass embankment with young trees, with the dark modern exterior facade and glass windows of the Tampa Museum of Art rising in the background under natural daylight. — Jake Ilardi does a backside 50/50 at the Tampa Museum of Art in Tampa, Florida. Credit: Adam Hadden

Skate rats, barflies and photo enthusiasts are welcome at St. Petersburg dive bar, The Bends, for the release of “Pelican.”

Skateboard photographer and videographer Adam Hadden’s photo book was made in collaboration with professional skateboarder Jimmy Lannon for Magenta Skateboards, showcasing action shots of skaters in St. Petersburg and the surrounding area.

Hadden told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay that he compiled nearly four years of photos and spent the last year and a half each day after work to self-publish this book that highlights street skating in the greater Bay area.

He wanted to put a nice coffee table style book that showcased where he and his friends skate, even if they weren’t the best spots, all to fit the Tampa and St. Pete scenes into one work. The big goal for Hadden was to start a conversation about bringing more skate-friendly architecture to the Bay area.

“Our end goal after the book is to have a tangible item we can present to city officials and say, ‘Hey, let’s try to make skating a little more progressive towards the city,’” he said, alluding to other cities in the globe that have embraced skaters instead of fought them. “Try to make skate spots around the city, multi-use areas for having a skatable culture, instead of just being at the skate park.”

There’s no cover for the “Pelican” book release happening Saturday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. inside The Bends in St. Petersburg.

Hadden and Lannon are bringing 150 signed copies of the glossy, 220-page hardcover book being sold for $55 on the day of. Hadden said that shortly after the grand release, books will be made available online.

“Pelican” Book Release

Time Sat., Nov. 7, 8 p.m.

Location The Bends, 919 First Ave. N, St. Petersburg

Lannon—who is on the cover of the book—spent time in Bordeaux, France, working with “Connect,” a skate urbanism festival that brings skate culture to urban planning for more skate-friendly sculptures. Lannon told CL that infrastructure in the City of Lights is a great example of planning that is not only good for skaters but also for people in general.

“We’re all people just sharing these spaces and making cities more inviting and friendly, which promotes mental health and physical health for everybody,” Lannon said.

Lannon says that the next steps include building relationships with city planners and local elected officials to make public areas less defensive for skaters and bring skate sculptures designed specifically for skateboarders to use. He’s hoping to start making these connections by the end of this year.

“We want to bring more skate sculptures to our public spaces,” Lannon said. “On the St. Pete Pier, the second they see skaters jumping around and playing, we get kicked out, but rollerbladers and longboarders are fine.”

Along with the photo book, there will be a featured showing of local skate videos, “Glasses” by Ryan Bambery and“Florid” by Jimmy Lannon starting at 9 p.m.