In the early days of DIG, Joe Rich was a common subject in the pages of the magazine. He possessed a natural style, liked to push his personal boundaries, and excelled at a lightning fast pace on all terrains, from vert to street to park. All whist burning with creativity and D.I.Y. BMX energy. 

After joining the etnies BMX team, Joe continued to be an integral part of DIG, but a series of injuries altered his BMX path throughout the filming for ‘Forward’. In a matter of months, Joe went from being on the cover of DIG, to shooting photos for DIG, as the team collected footage for their epic upcoming video. After healing up, Joe was again able to pick up the bike, but the photography bug stuck, and Joe’s photos remained a fairly consistent theme in DIG with him documenting the influential rise of his etnies and T1, friends and teammates. 

For the second episode of our ‘Fragments’ series, DIG photographer and one-time etnies teammate Sandy Carson traveled to Joe’s house to revisit his photo library and talk in-depth about that golden-era. If you’ve ever been curious about what drove Joe to take the route from pro BMX to BMX photographer, or are just a fan of those glory days, then this is a must watch. 

The DIG X ETNIES collection celebrating over 25 years of partnership is out available NOW: https://shop.digbmx.com/collections/etnies-x-dig-collection

The DIG 30 year history book "THIS BIKE COULD BE YOUR LIFE" is available for pre-order here https://shop.digbmx.com/products/dig-presents-this-bike-could-be-your-life-30-years-of-d-i-y-bmx-culture 

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MUSIC COURTESY OF 

IGLOMAT - "The Kelpies" https://iglomat.bandcamp.com/album/the-man-made-man

SKLOSS - "The Pattern Speaks" https://skloss.lnk.to/pattern ©2024 Fuzz Club Records