Body and Soul

Photography by Max

German photographer Max talks about how skateboarding is like one big family with its own language, culture, and identity.

Helmbrechts, Germany

What came first, photography or skateboarding?

Skateboarding came first. I started in 2004 when I was 16. I started photography in 2018.

How did you get into both of them ?

I used to play soccer, but as I got older I recognized that this whole teamwork thing is very annoying
and I lost my interest in soccer. I always wanted to make my own thing. One of my teammates used to skate back then and one day he took me to the skate park. I immediately fell in love with skateboarding and the whole culture.

Photography came way later. Christmas 2017 I bought my first DSLR because I wanted to learn something new. I tried it for a few weeks but my first results weren`t very satisfying, so I didn`t touched it for the next few months. Then I rolled my ankle and wasn`t able to skate for some time. So I grabbed my camera again and used it every day. I watched a lot of photography tutorials, read a lot of books about photography and so on. And the results were getting better and better and it started to make so much fun. Photography is now a big part of my life and I can't imagine a life without it.

Why is it important to document skateboarding?

For me it`s about preserving memories and sharing the story behind skateboarding. I want to show that we are all just normal people with the same issues like everyone else. But for us skateboarding is our key to being happy. The skate culture is very unique. It´s almost like a big family with its own language. Every skateboarder around the world understands what a kickflip, Tre Flip, Smith Grind, etc is.

For non skateboarders it all sounds like stupid gibberish. I also want to encourage other people to skate. It is good for your body and your soul.

Who are the skateboarders?

Most of them are my friends who I have known for many years.

John Kimler, JB, Micha Schmidt, Fabi Gades, Fabian Kutscha, Daniel Schmalfuß, Toni Jahn, Martin Ehrenberger, Jerome Frank

Where do you usually skate?

We usually skate at our local park in our town. It´s like our second home. Most of my photos were made at this park. I know every inch of this park and every spot for a good photo.
In the last few years a lot of really good skateparks were built in our region and we try to skate a lot of those other parks as well. But there is no place like home. Unfortunately there a not so many good street spots in our area so we have to use the skate parks.

How would you describe your skate photography style?

I never thought about this. On the one hand I just like to get close with my fish eye lens and on the other hand i try to get good areal shoots with my 35 mm lens. I always want to learn new techniques and don´t want to specialize on just one style.

How has photography changed your life?

It helped me to be more open to new people and see the world a little bit differently. Everyone is beautiful and interesting in their own way. It also helped me to pay attention to things I didn’t really notice before. You see a shadow on a wall or a fence or whatever and you see a possibility for a good photo. It is really close to skateboarding, as a skateboarder you see a good spot everywhere that non skaters wouldn't even spent a second to think about.

Where in the world would you want to shoot? Any skate parks or locations ?

As a skater from a very small town we always dream about the streets of NYC, LA or San Francisco. We see all the videos and photos of the dreamlike spots and get jealous every time. Otherwise I don`t really care where I can take my photos as long as I am with my friends and other cool people.

What’s next for you ?

In the near future I want to change my full time job to a part time job because I want to spend more time with photography and start my own photography business someday. But at first I want to learn more about photography and different techniques. I'm also very interested in portrait and fashion photography and digital art. There are still so many things that I need and want to learn.