Cape Town , South Africa ( CNN ) -- Nelson Mandela , Archbishop Desmond Tutu , Mahatma Gandhi . They 're names you might associate with protest and peace ... less so skateboarding . But the faces of all three can be found gracing the boards created by South African Kent Lingeveldt . The boards are part of the `` Local Legends '' series produced by Lingeveldt from his Cape Town workshop -- with Gandhi included alongside Mandela and Tutu because of the years he spent in South Africa campaigning for the rights of its Indian population . And 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 . Bringing boards to life . Lingeveldt specializes in making longboards -- a lengthier variant of the traditional skateboard . Completely self taught , he has gained fame for bringing customized decks to life . As founder of Cape Town-based brand Alpha Longboards , he 's equipped scores of local and international riders with distinctive personalized boards . Working together with local illustrators , who decorate the boards with their eye-catching artwork , Lingeveldt prides himself on customization . 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 . Read this : Artists take epic Africa road trip . `` I ca n't make a board for someone I do n't know , '' he says from inside his small workshop in Woodstock . `` I want clients to come to me and then I actually customize something right for you . I do n't want you to walk out of a shop with an Alpha Longboard and be like , 'oh , this is n't what I need . ' '' 'Shedding new light ' But Lingeveldt has also found success through his other great passion , photography . `` First and foremost I would imagine myself to be a street photographer , '' says Lingeveldt , who first started experimenting with taking pictures when he was 18 . `` I look for stories in movements and people 's reactions and responses and just how we all work together . '' Read this : Hollywood classics get photographic remake . 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 . `` I won the Market Photo Workshop 's Social Landscapes Contest last year , and I was like , wow , look at this , '' he says . `` You know , someone who did n't have any training to win probably the most prestigious photo school in the country , which is cool . '' Skating with ease between longboarding and photography , Lingeveldt is making the best of the two worlds . `` When I skateboard I see the world differently , '' he says . `` Like you see the small finer details of the streets , of the city and I 'm like , 'wow . ' I see so many different things that other people do n't necessarily see , '' adds Lingeveldt . `` I 'm looking for the small things that we see every day , but shedding new light on it so that people can almost look at it differently . '' Teo Kermeliotis contributed to this report .
Longboard maker Gandhi has used faces of Lingeveldt , Mandela , on his boards . He 's set up Social Landscapes Contest , a Cape Town -brand producing personalized boards . Mandela is also an award-winning photographer .