Jonathan Mehring

How long have you been shooting skate photos in New York?

In New York, seven years.

What would you say makes a good skate photo?

Everything that makes it different from a normal photo. As well as timing, lighting, and composition.

What are your favorite things about shooting skateboarding for a living?

Basically, getting paid to hang out with your friends. Also, the excitement of it. Shit’s flying at every which way, its cool.

What are some of your favorite moments from Full bleed?

One of them is Zered doing the frontside five-o on the top of the pillar at the Brooklyn Banks because he just busted it out of nowhere. Another is the photo I shot of Aaron Szott. He was explaining this spot to me for like a week. He was like, “there’s this bump in the middle of the street, that has been made by buses going by.” I was like, “What the fuck are you talking about?” He says, “meet me at this intersection on 14 St and B and I’m just gonna front shuv-it.” I had no idea what it was going to be. So I go there and there’s this huge bump from the tar that the street has just been lumped up like crazy, making this huge kicker. He is front shuv-iting over waist high off of the thing, into traffic. We had to post up and time the lights for when he could go and we got the photo after a little bit. The bump is not even there anymore because the more buses go over it when it’s hot out, creates the bump, and then when they start driving in a different place they mush it back down again.

What is your favorite thing about shooting in New York City, that you haven’t noticed anywhere else in the world?

New York just has this crazy energy, there’s so much shit going on all the time, that it just like feeds that feeling in everybody thats here and builds it more and more. It’s super inspiring and fun just to be in the city. Also, the photos look cool that are shot here, the architecture looks cool, and the friends are out here.