When I first started photographing skateboarding, I tried to figure out what drew me to the sport and how to shoot it in my style. Here is what I discovered.

Skating is a unique sport. It’s individualistic, yet filled with and thrives off community. It’s raw and spontaneous, yet full of precision and practice. It’s often perceived as just a punk kids rebellious sport, yet it’s filled with some of the most dedicated and passionate athletes out there who have genuine respect for each other. When a skater lands a trick they’ve been trying to land for 30+ times, it’s not just the skater who is stoked, there’s bound to be someone else hollering or smacking their board on the ground in respect.

At it’s core, skateboarding isn’t about winning, it’s not about one-upping another skater, and it’s not about trying to be the best because there’s really no ceiling that can be reached since the sport is always evolving. There’s always a different combination of tricks to create, a different line to try, angle to approach, or feature to attempt.

Skateboarding isn’t just a sport. It’s an attitude, a mentality, a way of living, and it’s about creating and always evolving. There’s no formula to who can be a skater or what they should look like, one just has to have an incredible amount of passion, persistence, dedication, and the willingness to fall…over and over and over again. The vibes are immaculate and as genuine as they get.