Good Chat: Leo Romero

Magnum skateboarder Leo Romero shares the ecstasy and agony of a lifetime spent pushing. With equal amounts of skin in the game and on the pavement, Leo’s legacy remains unstoppable. A true architect of modern street skating, Leo left an indelible mark on Foundation, Emerica, Baker, and Toy Machine. With his head on a swivel and Nikon in hand, Leo documents the grit, grace, and gravity of a life spent in motion.

Words: Morgan Rudolph. Photos: Leo Romero.

No sooner had Leo found success in skateboarding than he picked up a disposable camera—a rite of passage reserved for documenting newfound independence abroad. But this was clearly not school camp. This was skateboarding, on tour, in the 2000s—an era defined by its unsanitised image, middle finger to mainstream, and waiting for the flash to charge. Fuck that LED light.

There's more to the man than switch flips and handrails—Leo Romero casts an equally long shadow as a photographer. His visual vocabulary holds all the promise of a slow-burning neo-western, complete with Sergio Leone-esque close-ups, outlaws, and iron horses. This is life as he knows it.

Dispatch from Long Beach, California, Leo returns our solicited junk email with anything but—exploring life on the road, perspective, and a vocation vexed by injury. Read on.

Leo, great to connect. First thing, where are you based?

I have a home in Long Beach, California.

What sparked your interest in photography?

I’ve been around cameras my entire life. Video cameras, photo cameras, it was something that I just felt I needed to do. I like what they are capable of.

What was your first camera? Can you recall the first frames?

I started with shooting disposable cameras. But my first staple was an Olympus Stylus Epic. No recollection of the first frames.

You’re also a skater, and a good one at that. Has your time touring shaped your passion for photography? When and where did this start?

I started touring for skateboarding when I was about 14 or 15 years old. I started shooting photos probably around 16 with disposable cameras, just to document my travels and experiences. I wouldn’t say it shaped my passion for photography, but it definitely keeps me on my toes and my head on a swivel.

Do you have many vivid memories from those early years touring? Does your memory rely on photography?

Has there always been an urge to document life on the road?

Not so much the road, but just life in general.

You’ve dealt with some serious injuries throughout your career—physically and mentally, that must take a toll. Can you walk us through what your recovery process looks like? Do those periods of downtime push you toward other creative outlets?

Hand rails are notoriously tormenting obstacles to skate. It’s hard enough getting down them, so why grind up them?

Because no one else was.

You had a Thrasher cover at my local park growing up. How was your time in Australia? Did you see any kangaroos, haha.

You have an incredibly unique eye for composition. Does that come intuitively? Have your years of skateboarding shaped your perspective? Do you approach a photograph the same way you would a skate spot?

Thank you. I get influenced by everything around me—from movies, photobooks, advertisements, skate videos, paintings to cartoons. I’m sure the compositional eye comes from a little of all that. Skateboarding and the people I’ve been fortunate to work with definitely influenced my photography. It all depends on the photo and the skate spot.

Which photobooks are your favourites? Why do they resonate?

As a professional skater, you're so often the subject of photography. Is there much dialogue happening between yourself, photographers and videographers at the spot?

If you mean while I’m actually skating and trying to film a trick? No, there’s very little dialogue.

Who is your favourite skate photographer? What's he doing different?

Tim Aguilar.

Looking back at your skate career, is there one particular clip or part that stands out? What's the most amount of time you've dedicated to landing something?

Sometimes, but nothing is coming to mind as of now. I’m just looking forward to the next one.

2010 was a big year for you with the release of Emerica’s Stay Gold, Toy Machine’s Brain Wash and ultimately being crowned Thrasher’s Skater of the Year. What did the success mean to you personally, did it impact your life and or skating moving forward?

You recently roadtripped to the Nude Bowl, Desert Hot Springs, CA c/o Dickies and Harley-Davidson. That must’ve been one for the books? What were the highlights? Was this your first time skating the Nude Bowl? Did you land anything you were particularly stoked on? Describe this bowl for our readers.

I stood up and surfed the motorcycle I was riding. That was pretty fun.

Your frames from this trip look unreal! What gear did you pack?

A Nikon FM2, 20mm Nikkor lens, 28mm Nikkor lens. Tri-X 400 and Portra 400 film.

How does life on the road shape your portraiture? Do subjects drop their guard and open up more in front of the camera as the tour progresses? In your eyes, what makes a good portrait?

When it comes to people I’m travelling with, I just go for it. Usually, they’re already friends of mine, so it’s pretty easy and comfortable to shoot.

I'm a big fan of your long-shadow self-portraits. What's your favourite time of day to take photographs?

How important is authenticity in your work, especially with the pressure of trends and online validation?

It’s authentic to me because it’s my life, but that’s just my opinion. Trends or online validation tend to cloud and water down creativity. To me, that all defeats the purpose of doing anything. But then again, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings.

Tell us about 3:15 the zine you and your buddies published.

Long story short, it was just a way for a couple of my friends and myself to publish something. Just a way to get a little body of work out into the world and lay out a sequence of photos. It was fun, I wanna do more zines.

If you could only shoot one camera for the rest of your life, what would it be? Why?

Nikon FM2. Because they are tanks, cheap, Nikkor glass is amazing (also cheap), no batteries needed, and they look fucking cool.

What's the wildest thing you've done to get the shot?

Nothing is too wild to get the shot.

Any frame you 'missed' that still haunts you?

No.

Name three IG accounts that never cease to inspire you. Photographers, skaters, friends or inspirations. What do they publish? What makes them inspiring?