Online Extras 001
JONATHAN MEHRING
p: Heather Waraksa
Below is the complete interview with Jonathan Mehring from Born Ugly issue 1. Check out more of his work on his portfolio site, and his new photography book. Enjoy….
Where are you from, where are you at now and the in between?
I was born in Virginia and grew up in a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I went to school at VCU after a short stint at Beaver College, which is outside Philadelphia. Then I did DC for a year and Philly for two before finally moving to NY in 2003.
How on earth did you start skating living in a log cabin in the middle of the woods?
Dude I have no idea. My cousin was from California and she gave me a plastic G board when I was about 10. I would push myself back and forth in the kitchen while holding the counter. Then my friend James started skating when he moved to Charlottesville and he gave me an old board. It was a Santa Cruz Street Creep. Sickest graphic yet! The tail was all razored and the wheels were dark brown and mismatched. I thought that was how they were
supposed to be. When I finally went to get a new board I was like “what’s up with this rounded off bo bo shit?” I think I also asked if I could buy one wheel. Pretty hilarious to think about now. I had nowhere to skate so I just tried to ollie in the basement or on the dirt road when it got packed down pretty hard. There was also a tennis court a couple miles away with a 4 foot length of railroad track. But mostly my parents would take me to Charlottesville on the weekends and I would skate with the Lee brothers. I think it was just an escape for me. There was no one to hang out with at all in the country other than my parents or aunt and uncle. I
had two cousins but they were too young at the time for me to have fun hanging with when I was a teenager. So skating was something that gave me a reason to go spend the weekend in town and get away from the monotony of home life. I like it now when I go back. Its peaceful and relaxing compared to NYC.
How did you get into photography?
I’m really not sure what made me take the first class. It was in 11th grade. I think I just felt like taking some kind of art class. That quickly turned into me taking lots of photos of my friends skating. Mostly the Lee brothers and Nate Thomas. They were the best skaters around at the time.
Who/what are some of your influences in photography?
That’s a touch one. I first worked for this guy Thomas Daniel at VCU. He is an amazing portrait/documentary photographer and I didn’t really realize it at the time but he had a pretty big influence on my style. As far as skating I learned to shoot by just looking at magazines and trying to figure out the light.. I would go to demos in Northern VA and ask the touring photographer what they were using. A couple guys were real cool about it and very helpful. Ted Newsome and Joe Brook especially.
Why do you travel so much?
I don’t know I guess I had a pretty sheltered childhood so that just made me want to see the world. If skateboarding can help me travel then I’m all about checking some new places out. The world is fucking insane. I also like putting things in perspective. It really makes you realize how great we have it here, how lucky we are to be born in this country but also you see a lot of fucked up things about the US. At least we are not living in dust covered stilt huts in Cambodia with no electricity or running water but at the same time we are fed factory farmed food which fucks up our bodies and makes us fat or get cancer or heart disease. But that’s probably better than being a sex slave or being born with your feet backwards because your parents huffed glue or some shit.
Can you talk a little about the train trip you took awhile back?
A few friends and I took the Trans Siberian Railway about a year and a half ago. It was the best trip any of us had ever been on. Basically we did a week in Moscow, took the train across Russia stopping in several major cities, through Mongolia and into China. It took about a month and a half. We would be on the train for two days at a time then get off and skate a city for three days or so then back on the train for two, etc. I think we went to seven cities total. Saw some crazy things. It was amazing. Irkutsk, Russia and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia were probably the highlights. And Moscow too of course.
I know there are a lot, but any sketchy stories about traveling (ie, food, people, transportation)?
Yeah totally, some kids threw rocks at us in Mongolia just to see if we would fight them. When I was just in Thailand we went to a sex show and my friend Al tried to take photos of one of the strippers (who was shooting darts with a blow gun out of her pussy and popping balloons we were holding on the other side of the room). They freaked out and started yelling at him. The whole place shut down and Al kept trying to deny it. We looked toward the door thinking about making a run for it but they had slid a steel wall in front of the doorway. I looked up and there was just solid metal instead of a door. Two guys were standing there with their arms crossed. It was sketchy as hell. Finally Al let them delete the photos and they let us go. The place is fully mafia run. We could have disappeared and no one would ever have heard from us again.
How hard is it finding a bathroom in a foreign country when the stomach is percolating?
It’s actually not harder than here. But sometimes they are Asian style squat toilets, which take some getting used to. They are basically just a hole in the ground.
Digital vs Film thoughts? How do you feel about magazines like Slap going completely digital?
Digi is fine. There are nice things about it. Like you know for sure you got the trick for example. I like film better as far as how it looks and its authentacy. Because with digital if you don¹t have a print then you don’t really have it. There is nothing tangible which is super sketchy.
What other sorts of photography are you into?
I’m into lots of different kinds of photography right now. I’ve always
been into shooting music related things and portraits. I’ve been shooting some fashion lately too, which is pretty fun. I like to nerd out on lighting techs and have a crew working together to make a shoot happen. Also shooting half naked super hot girls adds some fun as wellI was super stoked also on Christoph Bangert’s photos of Pakistan and the Middle East as well as Peter Beste’s photo book called True Norwegian Black Metal. Really amazing work.
Growing up and making a career in the skateboarding industry on the East Coast is somewhat of an understood hardship. Was this an issue for you?
Yeah probably, I never tried it out west though so I’m not sure I have a realistic comparison. I’ve avoided giving myself that perspective. I like the East Coast a lot better. At least judging from what little time I’ve spent out west. It’s cool to visit though.
What is a normal day consist of when you need to get a photo?
Wake up, check emails, meet up at NY Muffins or Tompkins Square park. Grab food and either drive to the spot or skate there depending on where it is. In Manhattan I pretty much just skate around but in Brooklyn or other boroughs, I usually drive. If there is something specific I need to shoot we’ll usually just go straight to the spot and try to bang it out. If not then we’ll check out some new things and try to skate several spots in one day.
Who is the best/worst person to try and shoot? (Skateboarding or other)
The worst people to shoot are ones who don¹t want their photo taken. That is a common problem with skaters and portraits, which I deal with regularly. The best is someone who’s stoked to shoot.
What are your top three places for traveling, skating, food, women, and shooting photography?
I’d say the raddest places I’ve been are New York, Moscow, and Rome. Buenos Aires too. Shit man I don’t know there are so many.
Have you ever killed a deer with a bow and arrow?
No
What’s on your plate for the summer?
Not sure yet. I have some ideas in the works but nothing solid. I’d like to go down to Texas and shoot with Guru sometime soon. Maybe Central America I’m still working on it. We’ll see what happens.
Anything you want to ad?
Thanks Rob for letting me stay at your house.
GREEN SKATE LAB
Here are some videos of DC’s Green Skate Lab being built, and interviews with skaters about the build of this incredible project…and check out these interviews with Juice Magazine and Skateboarder Magazine.
GILBERT CROCKETT
Here are some videos of Gilbert that you have probably already seen… but they are pretty sick after all, and besides it’s not like you’re actually going to do work unless your boss comes by your desk.
Mystery “Black and White”
“Tomboman”
Fallen “Ride the Sky”
VIDEO VAULT
Just a couple selected parts from the videos “reviewed” in Video Vault.
AVE in Alien Workshop’s “Photosynthesis”
Greco in Zero’s “Misled Youth”
