Ryan Young Interview

I have never actually met Ryan. Like most folks I head hunt for the interviews, he does great work and gets here cuz someone I know suggested I give him a peek. I look forward to meeting him and the process of the interview sheds some light on his character. Everybody out there take a few moments to get to know a bit about Ryan the same way I did by reading the interview and peeping out his photos. Maybe you know him or maybe you will meet him, what ever the case he is or will be a solid person either way.

Christian

C: Name, age, location, occupation
R: My name Ryan Young, I'm 22 years old, and I shoot photos.

C: How long have you been shooting?
R: I've been shooting photos for about 6 years.

C: Formal training, or a more hands on get it done approach?
R: This question is an interesting one. I find it unique because I struggle with the difference a lot. I go to a school where I am influenced to make pictures as opposed to take pictures. The element of design and intent is sometimes awesome to understand, but at times it can be an unhealthy obsession. Sometimes you gotta just let go and free yourself from what you think is universally right or wrong. There's a beauty in both.

I consider my formal training to be what I am told and shown technically and conceptually. On the other side, my hands on training is simply the knowledge I attain put into action.

It's somewhat like skating. Skaters learn new stuff at a skatepark, but most would want to film what they've learned on a unique street spot so they can call it their own.

C: Most folks who shoot skating also put in some ride time is this the case with you?
R: Yes. Skating will always be my number one. I still feel the same about skateboarding as I did when I was in middle school rushing through my homework so I could get down to the skatepark and do my thang.

C: Your American Dreams series is killer how did you come up with that concept?
R: Thanks. It started out as a self-assigned school project. I got ideas from things I've seen in person, movies, and NPR.

American Dreams is actually a work in progress. Its a social narrative covering contemporary issues ranging from home foreclosures to discontent suburban families. The series is supposed to convey the feeling of being caught in between reality and fantasy. There's always an underlying element of tragedy in every photo. I guess I'm drawn to the way people react to things before, during, and/or after moments of struggle.

C: What is your current fave thing to shoot?
R: Portraiture. I know that's speaking in a rather broad scope, but it's what I'm into. I feel that every artist has their own idea of what a portrait is. There is no specific definition. A still life can be a portrait. A portrait can be a still life. One of my favorite portrait photographers said it best, "The subject must be thought of in terms of the 20th century, of houses he lives in and places he works, in terms of the kind of light the windows in these places let through and by which we see him every day." -Arnold Newman

C: Who is inspiring you to keep at it?
R: I get inspiration from a lot of different sources. Everyday it seems to come from something different. Sometimes it's a movie, sometimes it comes during a critique in school, and other times it comes from simply looking around at my environment.

My favorite artists who inspire me are; Pablo Picasso, Albert Watson, Brian Gaberman, John Cardiel, and Quentin Tarantino.

C: Other than your camera what is a bit of equipment you could not live with out?
R: Film and a reflector.

C: What is your best advice to folks out there getting into photography?
R: Hmmm... Spend a lot of time obtaining the technical knowledge so you aren't limited. Look at all kinds of artists for inspiration, not just other photographers. Have fun.

C: Dream gig?
R: Some sort of editorial project in an awesome environment, with amazing light, that pays extremely well... I wish I could be more specific, but I guess I like to take things as they come.

C: If you were in a band what would you play?
R: The drums always peeked my interest.

C: Ok bro that ought to do it...thanks a bunch for your time. Any shout outs as the curtain falls on our little interview?
R: Shout out to my SPC homies, Jenna, Sam Muller, BK, D-Money, K-Duff, Mom, Dad, and Bro.

Cowtown Skate Shop

As Phoenix am falls into the past and all the great times and chaos become faded, an experience still stands out in my mind. That experience is my visit to Cowtown...and I mean the shop not a weird farm spot or something like that. The shop was killer...definitely a place I could go broke and staff was welcoming. I decided "hey why not rep the folks who do a bunch for the local scene on the blog." And here we are. Photos don't do the shop justice, but I tried, and the interview scratches the surface of good folks. Hell yea for your local shop!!

Christian

C: How long ago did the shop open?
J: Trent and ED opened the first Cowtown in downtown phoenix in 1996. The first store used to be inhabited by a boot repair shop. the sign in the window was cool looking so they kept the name... "Cowtown" The local street skating scene was strong, and the first customer base was just a large tight circle of friends. It was the first skateboarder owned and operated shop in town.Glendale shop opened a year later and Laura became a partner. Ed, Trent and Laura were all main figureheads in the local skate scene for many years prior to the opening of the shops.


C: How deep is the team that runs the store?
J: Deep. All of Cowtown's employees and team are part of an extended local family of skateboarders. most have been raised in and around the shop and by the local independent skate scene most of their lives.


C: You guys have quite a bit of square footage. Has the store always been as big as it is?
J: The first shops were much smaller. We stayed in the same building, but eventually ended up leasing bigger spaces.

C: I have seen on your web site you guys do some collaborations with artists. Could you talk to us a bit about that?
J: Most of the artist collaborations come naturally, from just working with our friends. The local skate scene has always been intertwined with local art and music. We have been known to have periodic skate art and photography shows.


C: How do you guys help/work with the community?
J: Laura is one of three people credited with getting Arizonans first public free skate park. She, Damon Alire, and Dan Shircliff got the ball rolling with concert/contest fundraisers, and many city council meetings. After the first park was built, the others just fell in line. Those early contest fundraisers were called "The Worlds Greatest shows", and set the building blocks for what would later be Phx Am. We still work closely with our friends, and local communities to throw local contests, demos, video premieres, art shows etc.We also stay close to our locals, offering help, advice, or any spare parts we may have to help keep them rolling, and hopefully in the right direction.

C: Thoughts on how to keep business strong?
J: We just try to be nice to everybody, keep our stores stocked,stay inspired, and stay active! Good Karma helps:)

C: You have multiple locations all in AZ. Ever thought of getting out of state?
J: Az is our home. Well probably just keep holdin' it down locally for now. We do have our online store though for all our out of state homies Cowtownskateboards.com

C: Sweet! Thanks so much for your time and for fielding my questions. Any shout outs or things to look forward to from the folks at Cowtown?
J: Thanks to all of our friends in the skateboard world, past, present, and beyond, for all of their continual help and support through out the years:) We plan on ridin' this thing till the wheels fall off, and momentum keeps building. Keep an eye out for a lesson in progression! Maybe Phx Pro!? And that should do it.

C: I just wanted to inject that the competition was epic, had a great time, and meeting folks at the shop was definitely a high light!

Anthony Acosta Interview

So as I started to shoot skating one of the first photographers that caught my eye was Anthony. He was also one of the first photographers I went to with the idea of getting up on the blog. Never having done this before I was not sure what to expect, but Anthony came back with a real chill and positive vibe. I look forward to our paths crossing one day but until then...Thanks for all your feed back and willingness to help with this post. I know when and if I ever get posed the question, "who inspires you?" my answer will be first and foremost Mr. Acosta.

Christian

C: Name, age, location, occupation.
A: Anthony Acosta Jr, age 30, Norwalk, Ca, Photographer.

C: I saw your Mag minute on the skateboard mag site, you rip. How did photography find its way to you?
A: I've been skateboarding for a little over 20 years, I was sponsored for a while and was around a lot of skate photographers all the time. I always thought it was the raddest job one could have. I ended up assisting a good friend on photo shoots for a while, and he taught me the basics and gave me my first camera. That was the birth of my photo career.

C: Do you travel much and are you a fan of traveling?
A: I travel often and I love it! I've been blessed to have traveled the world through my job. My favorite spot traveled so far is Nicaragua

C: When you set out to get your work published was that difficult?
A: Fortunately I started out shooting my friends who happened to be top professional skateboarders like Danny Garcia and Daewon Song. Once I had decent photos of these guys, their sponsors always needed photos of them for ads, and that's how I got my first photos published.

C: Self taught, schooling, internships, or some blend?
A: My friend and photographer Joe Toreno taught me the basics, like how to work a camera and stuff like that. But everything else I kinda picked up on my own.

C: When you are not shooting skating what is your favorite thing to shoot?
A: When I'm not shooting skating, my favorite thing to shoot is my family. I have soo many photos of my wife and 17 month old mini me! I love taking their picture!

C: What is the worst, and the best thing about doing a shoot in your opinion?
A: The best thing is that every shoot is different, whether it be locations, subjects, or ideas, hardly any two shoots are the same. The worst part of a shoot could be getting kicked out by security, getting to a spot that's skate proofed, or someone getting injured trying to get a photo.

C: Film, digital or both?
A: Mostly digital, but I just got a Leica M6 that I've been super into for personal stuff!

C: Any photographers you look up to out there?
A: Seu Trinh, Mike O'Meally, Brian Gaberman, Jon Humphries, Atiba, Grant Brittain

C: Advice you might give to aspiring photographers?
A: Advice for someone trying to shoot skateboarding would be to know skateboarding first. You can tell by the photographs if someone really knows skateboarding or not, its very transparent. Same concept applies to a lot of photography.

C: If your not doing it now what would be a dream gig?
A: Working for a travel magazine of some sort. Or a gourmet food judge :)

C: Thanks a ton for your time and for fielding my questions. Any shout outs as the curtain falls on our little interview?
A: Thanks to all the people that have let me take their photo and to my family that puts up with my long hours in the streets. I Also thank Jesus for opening doors for me to be able to do what I love as a job, I am very very very very fortunate.

Augie Johansen Interview

Give it up for gingers!! I have known Augie for about 2 yeas now and I am always impressed with how a dude keeps it down and continues to show skills on the board. A man who has direction and drive. Lets all watch as August kills the scene with out most people notating and when it all goes down folks will say..."Hey I knew that dude!"

Christian

C: Name, age, location, occupation

A: Augie Reed Johansen, 15, Albany California, hesher

C: How long have you been putting in work on a shred stick?

A: I have just started my fourth year of shredding

C: Most folks who meet you are shocked at your age...you are good cuz why?

A: Probably because I've been pushin it and never stopped trying hard and always have the need to get something new

C: Skate camp huh? I'm jealous! Gimme your best camp story.

A: Hahahaha well it would probably have to be the time when we were walking into our group's cabin and we saw this crazy looking bug run across the floor and out of pure reaction my friend stomped on it hella hard and squashed it, turns out it was a super poisonous spider and that we were really lucky that he squished it before it got into our sleeping bags

C: You are going again this year what do you hope to get done on this tour?

A: I really just want to have it be my highlight of my summer and just have a great time! Oh yeah and I want to get front blunts.

C: Ok so let me hear the dream sponsor line up.

A: Any Deluxe boards, Thunder, Spitfire, Fourstar, Swiss bones, and ADIDAS! they're the best

C: If you had to pick...skating or chickas?

A: Goodness that is a tough question! Ummmmmm I'm gonna have to say skating because there is never drama with skating

C: Gimmie the skinny on being a red head.

A: Being a redhead is my biggest pride! I honestly don't see anything wrong with it. Did you know that only like 5% of people are red head and the amount is shrinking! Best advice for all the haters is enjoy while you can!

C: Your fave place to skate right now?

A: Anywhere and everywhere! It also depends on what kind of mood I'm in whether its heshin the gnar or gettin tech on a ledge, I'm really liking the Emeryville ledge and the Berkeley park will always be the best

C: Any tattoos in the near future?

A: I want to get roll forever on my wrists and at some point I want to get a big silhouette of the golden gate bridge on my back, and I want to get a pool with a skeleton doing a boneless in the deep end. That would be rad!

C: Where do you see your skating in 3 years?

A: I honestly have no idea, I just know that if I'm still skating (which I will be) I've been super content with my life so far, I'll be a senior so I'll still be around here unless something pops off.

C: Word up homie thanks for your time. Any shout outs as we wrap this up?

A: No problem, I just want to say thanks to my mom, Randall, Peter, Ari, and all of the people I skate and hang with, you are the ones that make it enjoyable.

Rob Collins Interview

Out hunting for the next interview on flickr. Looking with a sharp eye and being patient...what's that over there? Keep an eye on this one, ok now's my chance! "Click, Bang". Got em'. Young buck Rob Collins is the next victim on the blog. I stand next to my trophy with a satisfied grin on my face...ah the thrill of the hunt.

Christian

C: Name, age, location, occupation
R: Rob Collins, 16, Longmeadow Mass, Graphic - Website designer and Skateboard photographer.

C: How long have you been shooting skaters?
R: About 2 1/2 years

C: I see you work with some folks and have some published work. How did those connections come about?
R: I've had a few published photos in the past and I'm working on some more. Bill Tomlin from Topic East Coast mag has helped me out a lot. I look forward to continue working with Bill on Topic East Coast. Big ups to Bill!

C: Formal training or pick it up and get it on?
R: Pick it up and get it on!!

C: Any folks/photographers provide inspiration out there?
R: Yes, Hendrik Herzmann's work is really sick. also Arron Smith is amazing.

C: When your not shooting skating what is your fave thing to shoot?
R: People and Places

C: Are you traveling much to get content?
R: I try to travel as much as I can to shoot but sometimes it doesn't always work out. But when I do travel I usually come back with a photo I'm hyped on.

C: Best thing about going on a shoot?
R: Seeing my friends having fun and ripping at the same time.

C: Worst thing about going on a shoot?
R: Setting up all my gear just to be kicked out 3 minutes later.

C: A piece of photography equipment you can't live with out?
R: My whole bag haha. I have it on me at all times. But if I had to pick one, it'd be my vivitar 285 HV flashes.

C: Film or digital or both?
R: Digital 100%.

C: Thanks for your time Rob, I really appreciate you fielding my questions. Any shout outs as we finish this up?
R: No thank you Christian. Id like to thank Mom, Dad, Dan & Frank @ Theory, Matt Hood @ Gifted Threads, Bob @ ipath. Nate Greenwood, Nate Plumb, John Santaniello, Brendan O'Connor, Bill Tomlin, Joey D, Stevie Wheeler, Brett Richard, Bill Colburn, Dave Durfey, and everyone from western mass I'm forgetting I couldn't have gotten anywhere without any of you!!