Thrasher Magazine

From his humble beginnings in Virginia as a Slap contributor to becoming a full-fledged professional photographer, Jonathan Mehring has turned his passion for traveling and skateboarding into a vehicle for navigating the world with his friends. National Geographic recently published a book of his work (along with some contributing photographers) titled, Skate The World. Michael Burnett sat down with Jonathan to talk about the early years, his current book project and the roving road to radical.

Mehring, miles from Hollywood High

First "ramp" March '90

Tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you on the road to a career in photography.
I was a total skate rat who grew up in rural VA. I'd obsess over Thrasher magazine, actually. My first intro to skating was the August '90 issue which had a street luger on the cover—not a good sign for my pro career. I'd just stare at the pages trying to figure out how they got in those positions. I didn't have any videos. I'd been skating for maybe a year but without anyone else around or guidance on how to use the thing. I'd mostly push back and forth in the basement and try to ollie. Eventually my parents started taking me to Charlottesville, VA, on weekends and I'd stay with friends who skated. At the same time, I took a photography class and it was a natural thing to start taking photos of my friends jumping over trashcans and down four stairs and the like. 

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Photo by Jonathan Mehring
DYLAN RIEDER ~ LA PAZ, BOLIVIA
Trick: Backside kickflip

What was your first big break in your career?
I ended up falling in love with photography almost as much as skating and went to VCU to study it further. During that time I started sending photos of my friends to all the magazines. My favorite was Slap, so I sent them the most. For about six months I got no response but suddenly there was a two-page spread of mine in the Gallery section. It was my friend, Will Lee, who wasn't even sponsored and I was beyond stoked. After that, Joe Brook and Mark Whiteley started keeping in regular contact with me and giving me feedback. Actually, back up, my first published photo was in Thrasher. It was Chris Cole doing a benihana to fakie on a quarterpipe at one of the old Beast of the East contests. There was another photographer there from Thrasher and I sent my photos there because I knew they were covering it. But it was kind of poached and felt a little slimy because I was so hungry at the time, so the Slap Gallery is the first published photo that I'm proud of. The summer after graduating I went to DC and did an article on the scene there for Slap called "The Forgotten City." It was photos of Pepe Martinez, Brian Tucci, Eben Jahnke, Sean Mullendore, etc. That got me a retainer position with the magazine and it just went from there. They would help me make connections with pros if I didn't have any. It was rad.

What was an embarrassing early mistake that you can now reveal?
Probably thinking my off-brand fisheye was good enough. Or shooting an entire contest with chrome film and no light meter. That went well—

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Photo by Jonathan Mehring
ALEX OLSON ~ NEW YORK CITY, U.S.A.
Trick: Wallride

What was your first skateboarding trip as a photographer?
Hong Kong with Cairo Foster, Kenny Reed, Ricky Oyola, Elias Bingham, Damien Smith, and Vern Laird filming.

How'd you do?
Not too hot. I blew a lot of photos. Still managed to get an article but it was rough. All the radio frequencies made my flashes fire out of control and would kill my batteries in a matter of minutes. I'd be stuck with no lighting on a daily basis. Sometimes I would realize they were dead and other times I wouldn't.

Photo by Mike Burnett
LIZZIE ARMANTO ~ MOORPARK, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.
Trick: Layback grind

What was your first truly exotic trip as a photographer?
That first one seemed pretty damn exotic at the time. We also went to Shenzhen, China in 2002 which was crazy. Earliest exotic trip I put together myself was probably the Trans Siberian Railway or a couple years before that we went from Moscow to Latvia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria. We didn't even have return flights. We just kept traveling 'till the money ran out. I think I was on the road for two months and some of the others stayed even longer.

With El Toro and the Hollywood 12 right here, what makes you want to go to all these crazy locations?
Ha! Good point! What have I been doing?!

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Photo by Jonathan Mehring
WIEGER VAN WAGENINGEN ~ ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN
Trick: Frontside heelflip

What is the most absurd mission you have been on in the guise of a skateboarding trip?
What are you saying Mike? I'd say India was probably kinda pushing it, skate trip-wise. I based the whole trip around this festival, the Kumbh Mela, which is a Hindu pilgrimage to the Ganges River in Allahabad. Over 100 million people bathed in the river there over six weeks. Over 30 million during the three days we were there. It was just something I wanted to photograph in general, and I'd also wanted to do a skate trip to India for a long time, so the Kumbh Mela basically motivated me to produce the skate trip. I actually bought six tickets to the Kumbh Mela, like, eight months beforehand just to be sure we could go. I didn't even have a crew of skaters yet. But luckily it worked out and ended up being a really solid skate trip, too.

Who is your favorite crew to drag along on these ridiculous missions?
Well, I've definitely been given shit for taking the same guys all the time. But you get in a rhythm and know who you travel well with and it's easy to keep inviting the same friends. I'm all for bringing new people along, don't get me wrong, it's just hard to know who's down for such a trip and who's not. Cold calling can be awkward, too, but I've always relied on that to find new crew members. So back to your question, the people I've traveled the MOST with, are Kenny Reed, Jack Sabback, Jerry Hsu, Joey Pepper, Fred Gall, Keegan Sauder, Van Wastell (RIP) and Nestor Judkins. There are a number of others who have gone on a few trips as well who I'd love to keep traveling with, but these guys are the ones who I've probably traveled the most with.

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Photo by Alexey Lapin
DAVE BACHINSKY ~ ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN
Trick: Frontside kickflip

Describe a time when you got in over your head traveling abroad.
There've been a few tense moments over the years. I've been lucky, though. Nothing super serious, but I was pretty nervous one time in Baku, Azerbaijan. I was with the Nike SB crew and I wanted to get a group shot of everyone in the middle of an open oil field. There were lakes of oil bubbling out of the ground and dirt pathways weaving between them accessing oil pumps everywhere. Not everyone was into it, so as I tried to convince them it was a good idea. But security rolled up and blocked our van in. Then the cops came, got in our van and rode with us to the police station. They were tripping on Jason Hernandez and me taking photos and filming. We sat there for over six hours talking to officials and saying we were just tourists and not government spies. They finally called the head of police who was nice enough and let us go without deleting any photos or footage. We were glad to get the hell out of there. In hindsight we probably should have called the US Embassy, but we didn't think of it until we were several hours in for some reason.

Where do you still want to travel to for skateboarding?  What countries still need to be crooked grinded?
Africa. There are tons of countries that have enough infrastructure and aren't in the news too much, so to me that means "Go."

Photo by Joe Brook
KYLE WALKER ~ ATHENS, GREECE
Trick: Half-Cab heelflip

What have been your personal highest and lowest points as a skateboarding photographer and/or as an American traveling abroad?
Highest points have been making connections with local skaters who have helped us out. The Amazon trip, especially; it was amazing meeting up with guys our age who were stoked to see us and show us around their cities and introduce us to their culture. That's always a good feeling when you meet the local crew for the first time and we're, like, "We're really doing this!" Lowest point—I don't know. There is always a time during a long period of travel that can suck the life out of you a bit. You are over it. Something has gone against plans, being sick, not getting tricks. Once in Lithuania, we had gone for I think 14 days with no photos, just rain or no spots. The whole crew was tearing into each other. I nearly got in a fight with Bobby Puleo in our hotel room. We made up after, but that was a harsh low point. We had passed the point of no return. We couldn't go home with nothing to show for two weeks of travel, but it didn't seem like we were going to get any more tricks. Luckily, the weather broke and we ended up going to Bulgaria and got a bunch of stuff, so we ended on a good note.

What photography clichés do you try to avoid?
Guy in the sky? It's nice to have a frame of reference. I'm a sucker for a good sunset, though.

Skate The World

How did this project with National Geographic come about?
I randomly had a conversation with Susan Hitchcock, one of their book editors, at a Christmas party at my parent's house in 2008. I told her about the Trans Siberian and Kazakhstan trips and she asked if I thought I had enough material to do a book. I thought I might and went down to DC for a meeting with them. They were interested but I guess it wasn't quite there, so the conversation continued slowly, always on the back burner. Eventually, I had enough material combined with a few contributors and found a sponsor, Levi's, which helped offset the cost of production. That was the final push that it needed.

What did you want to show in this book that you think is missing from the magazines that come out every month?
I wanted to show that there is a global community of us around the world that is a shared undercurrent to the kind of renegade mentality of most skaters. I don't know that I was seeking to do something that the magazines specifically don't offer; I wanted to do a book about my vision of skateboarding. It is a really cool thing that we have automatic friends no matter where we set foot. Who else can say that?

If Skate the World got adapted into a major motion picture, who would you want to play you?
Well, Partanen calls me Indiana Jon, and I can't say Raiders of the Lost Ark wasn't an early inspiration, but I'd rather choose Dennis Hopper's character from Apocalypse Now.

Photo by Mike Burnett
BRANDON WESTGATE ~ EL PASO, TX, U.S.A.
Trick: 360 flip

Besides this book, what are your dream skateboarding photography projects?
I have some ideas—

Is National Geographic going to let you shoot regular shit for them after this? Is this goodbye to Jonathan Mehring, lowly skate photographer?
I hope so! Although I could never completely stop shooting skating. It's too fun! When else do you get to be inches away from such excitement? I get totally wrapped up in the moment. "You fucking got this, duuude!"

If you were an F-stop, what would you be?
Either 1.4 or 16.

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Photo by Mike Blabac
JOSH KALIS PUSHES ACROSS THE BAY BRIDGE ~ SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, U.S.A.

Purchase a copy of Skate the World here.