keeping time

Before I even knew how to use a camera, my passion for photography had a firm grip on me. I spent a lot of time as a kid flipping through Transworld Skateboarding and Thrasher magazines. I would think: "these skate pictures are amazing!" Seeing the photos of the vert skaters or ads with Christian Hosoi was pure inspiration to go out and skate. Then skate videos were introduced. I would watch them with my friends, and we would go out and skate. Afterward, I would come home and watch more videos by myself. I wanted to pause the images so that they looked like the photos in the magazines. I guess that was my training until the real thing.

My first camera was a Richo KR 5 with a 50mm. Armed and ready, I started taking pictures of friends skating and hanging out. Years passed, along with a few camera upgrades. Eventually, I decided to study at Brooks Institute of Photography. In 2006, I graduated with a degree in Visual Journalism. My training at Brooks had me focusing on portraits, photo essays and documenting the world around me. But I still found myself picking up skate magazines, inspired my photographers like J. Grant Brittain, Dave Swift, Atiba Jefferson and others. When asked to be a part of "Keeping Time", I wanted to retrace my roots and document skateboarding. This has now become a life-long project. I never want to lose sight of what inspired me to pick up a camera in the first place.