Photographer Norma Ibarra left her hometown of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico in 2009 and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia — a few blocks away from Antisocial Skateshop in 2015. She started skating and became obsessed. Norma transferred her lifelong photography passion into contributions to the burgeoning The Skate Witches collective-turned-zine and volunteering for nonprofits like Skate Like a Girl. Self-funded skate trips turned into official invites from brands to document the worldwide sessions. Few have captured so many unique skate scenes around the world in so little time as Norma, who has a keen eye for showcasing skateboarding as a conversation with the cities and communities that house every trick.
Norma’s energy and passion for her work was palpable during our recent phone call, where we talked about photographer etiquette, hoarding clothes, and why growing your own food can help your skating.
“[Keith] saw that we had skateboards and asked if we wanted to skate his ‘run.’ This ‘run’ was a planned-out continuous route of spots he’d hit on a daily basis. You had to skate it fast and without stopping because there was traffic, open businesses, pedestrians and security guards — who knew Keith would be pushing through at some point after 3 P.M. when school was out.” Thrasher has an incredible retrospective feature that recounts stories from many of Huf’s closest friends.
The good news is we finally switched over to a circa 2018 design that’s mobile compatible, etc. Hopefully it’s not a Crailtap-getting-rid-of-the-iframes shock to the system, because let’s be honest: it basically looks the same, just moderne. We purged a couple spots that have been gone long enough for people to forget about, cleaned up some shit around the pages, etc. If anything seems to not be working properly, feel free to drop us a line.
The bad news is we are still amidst the same general skate internet content slump we have been experiencing all month. Nearly nothing happened last week…
On the off chance that you didn’t catch it, Jawn Gardner continues his streak of being one of the most contagiously good vibed skaters to watch in 2018, via his DC Streetsweeper raw files. That A/C contraption he made is nuts…
Gunes’ new FTC part is up there with John’s raw files as what got ran back the most at the office last week. Shout out to everyone who looks like they’re having fun while being really good at skateboarding.
Don’t know much about this one, but “Long Shots & Low Odds” is a ~moody~ seven-minute New York video from Canon Hastings featuring all your New York 2018 dietary staples (wallies, .T.F., a pit stop at the Grand Street courts) + a stubborn commitment to skating those red double cellar doors next to Motorino.
“I feel good because I can make money, because I can help my family, but I don’t give a fuck about the Olympics. I don’t care and I don’t want to be there.” Grey has an interview with Olympian and European life enthusiast, Tiago Lemos.
“The big underground music in America is like house and dance stuff, based on what I see in the shop, and that’s what skaters are buying. When I was getting into deep underground hip-hop growing up, the only other kids listening to it were skaters. Like, you guys know Hieroglyphics? Why? ‘Oh, it was on the blah blah blah VHS.'” This link actually has nothing to do with skating, but is an insightful conversation on how people consume music (particularly rap) in 2018, and a reminder that it’s ok to not have an opinion on some stuff!
Quote of the Week: “If you’re having fun, chances are, you’re breaking at least one law.” — Conor
It’s eerie how well this clip has aged. If you sent this to us sans titles as a “hey my friends went to Paris and here’s our clip!” in 2018, it’d probably get a pass…
None of us ever had to talk about each other’s bowel movements so much. Then we went to Mexico City for a week.
“Don’t drink the water!” is what they say — disregarding the fact that it’s impossible to avoid every little thing that has ever come in contact with the city’s tap. Whether it’s the lettuce in a sandwich or the ice in a sexy drink, some percentage of everything is tainted. Nobody escaped unscathed. We went from claiming 100 tacos in seven days, to fifty tacos, to eating Domino’s for lunch halfway thru the week because, like, how scary can bread and cheese be?
Between searching for public bathrooms, and after realizing a slight culture barrier between us and the people showing us around (they took us to Baker spots because we had a couple people paid to skateboard with us, and based on the videos we were watching, being good at skateboarding in Mexico means you can tailslide a fifty-stair round rail), this is how the week went. A true testament to the beauty of Mexico City is that despite our unanimous gastro-intestinal ailments, everyone still had an amazing time. And no, nobody gave a fuck about that stupid wall.
Thanks to everyone who showed us around, and to the cops that accepted our like ~$25 bribe (oddly enough, you can’t drink in public) ♥ Also, I’m ok with not hearing Kodak Black for a couple months.
Features Etienne Gagne, Zach Baker, Zered Bassett, Emilio Cuilan, Adrian Vega and Will Marshall.
Travel Tip: An Airbnb for seven dudes with one bathroom in Mexico is a bad idea.
Contrary to Instagram reports over the past week-and-a-half, the Banks are not *technically* open. A full section of the fence was down, and the DOT security booths were gone, but that section has since been put back up. Cops are still kicking people out (no tickets…yet), and claiming the space will soon re-open (also remember it was only supposed to be closed off until 2014, so, you know…) TWScaught up with R.B. Umali for a full status report, and a bit of new footage.
Who would have thought that one of QS’ highest affinities for a non-New York skate crew would be out in Italy? Five-minute montage from the Milano Centrale boys, including #musicsupervision via Strap from Travis Porter, experimental pants supervision, and minimal tricks on objects over two feet in height.
Always get a lil’ smile out of “Summer Trip to New York” edits that put the effort into skating midtown and SoHo, which seem to be antiquated routes in the L.E.S. + outer-borough dominant mindset of the past several years. The New York section in “Double Egg & Cheese” (begins at the 7 minute mark) is a fun watch.
QS Sports Desk Play of the Week: Who the hell would want to get a get a drink alongside somebody whose favorite basketball player is James Harden? Russ for MVP. Uninterested in any other arguments. Bye.
