Interview by Graham Tait
Photos by Brian
You're a very well established filmer, your Sabotage series is some of the best shit to come out of Philadelphia! Why the move into film photography?
I always hated how the filmer would do all this work to the spot and spend hours filming a trick for the photographer to come in a day later and shoot a couple of tries for a photo. It started as a joke, but I’d just say that shit’s easy. They don’t even gotta land it! So I got some gear and gave it a shot, and now I’m hooked! It’s really fun. I do still wanna fix up the spot and be there for the make. Actually, I usually still gotta film it. I’m doing double the work now, this didn’t turn out as planned. Haha!
John Shanahan gave me one solid try on this switch ollie after filming him do one. Thank god it turned out!
Double the work means double the gear. What’s currently in your bag, or maybe it’s ‘bags’ now!?
Yup! I leave the house everyday with two bravo bags and sometimes a VX1000 in hand. The video bag just has an HMC150 and an extreme fisheye in it. The photo bag has a Canon EOS 1V, a Canon ef 24-105mm lens and the 8-15mm fisheye. Yongnuo transmitter and three speed lights. Also three Sunpak 555s and the OG bracket. Oh and a Canon 5D MarkII to check exposure. Pretty jam packed actually.
Brian O'Dwyer bs tail into a crusty bank. Theres a spot in Philly that’s two banks with ledges going across. It’s at Baldi Middle School. It’s maybe the most famous ledge to bank in skateboarding. We got a joke that there’s a Baldi in every country. Here’s Puerto Rican Baldi. Way less inviting than Philly Baldi.
I thought I had a lot of gear! Where do you live and how do you get around carrying all that?
I live in Philadelphia and I put it all in my car. My car is basically a toolbox too. It has everything you need to get a spot fixed. So a load of camera gear on top of all that is no big deal. Just carrying it all out the door sucks.
How is Philly these days? It looks to be going through a lot of changes, especially the skate spots.
Philly is good, it's just been so hot. That’s how it is though, painful winters and humid summers. G spots are dropping like flies but we make the best of it.
Graeme Turner charging a backside 5050 in North Philly.
Are you from Philly?
I’m from Horsham PA, it’s about 40 mins north of centre city.
How did you actually get into skateboarding?
I started skateboarding because my bike broke. Just skated out front of my house. I used to pretend my curb was a Love Park ledge.
Jahmir Brown curves in and tre flips at the art museum.
How old would you have been when you got your first board?
I think I was 14 when I got my first board. I bought a complete off a kid that used to skate in my neighbourhood. It was a Josh Kalis board with Tony Hawk tracker trucks. I had no idea who Josh Kalis was until seeing Photosynthesis a few months later.
When did you first go to Love Park and do you remember what it was like to be there for the first time?
I went to the X Games at City Hall in 2001. That was the first time I saw Love Park in person but they had cops there making sure no one skated. It was sick seeing Love but the contest was even crazier to see. Seeing Kerry Getz, Josh Kalis and Kareem Campbell in person was wild. All the guys from videos at a real spot from the videos. It was awesome.
Jason Nam full speed ollie’s into the slant.
Who are some of the first dudes you recognised around Philly?
Later on when I really started skating downtown I’d see Kevin Taylor and Pete Eldridge around. By this time a lot of pros moved away besides them. I’d go to City Hall in like 2006/7 and see guys like Jason Klotz, Mike Rankine and Big Mont holding it down. Jamal Smith moved to Philly not long after and I’d skate with him a lot. Skating downtown was hard back then. The cops were really on some shit.
Was that around the time they put those stupid big planters around Love Park to stop you from skating?
They did that in 2002, I did skate there once in 2004 and again in 2005 but we really started getting time there in 2008. We had it pretty figured out from then on.
Kevin Bilyeu switch heels a police barrier on some back in the day type shit.
How did you get into filming?
I watched videos like CKY2K and it looked like they just filmed each other skating and doing funny shit. I got some sort of handy cam with a wide-angle lens and me and my friends would pass it around and film whoever was skating. I made some edits and from then on I was hooked. I upgraded to a VX1000 in 2005. Now it’s 2025 and I’m a photographer! Just kidding, I still love filming and my favourite camera to use is still the VX1000.
Who was documenting Philly at that time? Were there many filmers and photographers?
Mark Brandstetter and Ryan Gee. Maybe Strobeck was still around too? But by the time I was skating downtown they were all gone.
Kevin Liedtke gap to bs over crooks. This was from one of my first few rolls shooting with flash. I was super hyped when I got this one back.
When you started to take it more seriously, who’s work inspired you? What were you watching to get inspiration?
I probably started taking it seriously in 2008 when we were skating Love again. I felt like I needed to document what was going on. Obviously Photosynthesis was my biggest inspiration but also Chris Mulhern’s videos at the time were too. He also started coming down and filming at Love and City Hall for his next video which ended up being This Time Tomorrow.
Joey O’Brien battling a nollie heel while I battle the sun. Maybe more of a battle for me than him.
You must have seen some crazy shit go down at Love. What's the wildest situation you found yourself in?
A lot of crazy shit went down but seeing cops act how they did still amazes me. You would think we were robbing a bank. Being so aggressive and doing everything they can to stop a skateboarder from riding in a public park is wild. There’s actually too many stories. The Segway cop was funny. We had him chasing us for hours. All over downtown. He was so easy to get away from and he wouldn’t give up. That was a fun night. But usually they come in and try to tackle someone or pull tasers or try to trip you with their bikes, shit was so dumb.
Brian Odwyer fs crooks to fakie from beginning to end.
Do you see photography differently now that you're doing it? Like, has your appreciation for it changed?
My appreciation for the old shit changed. Just guessing or using a light meter. Looking through the cam and just going for it with no preview and somehow nailing it. I look at really old photos and that’s what I think and that’s what I wanna do. I wanna do it the old way. No high-speed sync and I’ll lay on the ground or whatever to get the angle. Sometimes I will preview with a digi because this shit is expensive. I'd like to make sure it looks right, but I’m fine with the end result not looking perfect.
Shaun Williams bounced his face off the ground doing this pole jam back into pole jam. I didn’t shoot his bloody face because it actually seemed like he was seriously injured. He cleaned himself up and pulled it.
What photographers get you hyped to shoot?
Current photographers right now? I feel like Zander Taketomo is the best. He’s still shooting and all film his shit looks amazing. He’s got it dialled, I’m still just kinda winging it.
Joey Marrone fs lips on the kick out.
It's funny because I hadn't seen any of your photo work on Instagram, then you posted a bunch and they were all super sick! Like you had just picked up a camera and had it sussed.
Yeah those were from the first few rolls I shot with flashes. As I would get the photos back I’d think “holy shit I kinda pulled it off”, and all I was really doing was studying old Gee and O’Meally photos. Looking at the shadows and figuring out where flashes were supposed to go, then just going for it and somehow getting something half decent is so rewarding. It’s like how I grew up watching VX videos and how nostalgic they are. And that’s the vibe I go for when filming. I wanna do the same with photography. I just wanna do it the old way and have it look like some back in the day shit.
Mike Ward kick flips into a busy street.
Well I’m hyped to be able to share them! What have you got for the rest of the year?
I’m still filming a lot. Working on a DC project with Shanahan that comes out in February. Hoping to sneak some photos in while filming for that. Will see.
Set down below street level on the side of Muni, the pit is the last sliver of plaza in downtown Philadelphia. Once a forgotten waste of space, it’s now all we got. With some additions from salvaged Muni granite and some work to the ground, the pit is keeping downtown skateboarding alive in Philadelphia.
Published in North 44