The following is an email interview with Mr. Peter
Stankiewicz; photographer, skateboarder and friend. We asked Peter to talk about his love of shooting photos, specifically skateboard oriented. He has hand picked 4 of his favorites and criticizes not only the photos themselves, but more interestingly, the scenario and atmosphere in which it was taken.
James: Peter, let's start with the basics, How old are you, where are you from? What are you up to in Toronto?
Peter: I'm 21 years old, and I'm originally from
Sudbury. I'm taking graphic design at George Brown, and I spend most of my free time shooting, and skating.
James: What kind of camera setup do you use the majority of the time?
Peter: On film, I use a
Bronica SQ-B with a 150mm, 80mm and 35mm
Fisheye lens. My digital setup is a Nikon d2h, with a 35-70mm lens and a 10.5mm
Fisheye.
James: What's your position on the debate between digital and film cameras? Are O.G purists just pretentious and anal or is there more skill and artistry involved in shooting film?
Peter: Film is more fun to shoot; it’s more rewarding, not only because it's slightly more difficult, but also because the end result tends to look better. Maybe it's just easier to make film shots look better. If I was doing this strictly for money, digital would be fantastic, but for the fun of it, I'll keep shooting film.
James: Tell me about the 4 photos that you picked to feature on the site. Why did you pick these particular examples?
Peter: The first photo is of a good friend of mine, Chris
Marleau. It was taken on
someones driveway about a half hour outside of
Sudbury. The bank has a really weird bump on the bottom of it that makes it difficult enough to even carve, let alone pop out of. Everything just came together on this one - the time of day left some colour in the sky and the leaves give it a some really nice colour. The snappy
ollie is really what makes it though.
Chris
Marleau- Ollie
The second photo is of Dan
Arget, whom you introduced me to. I shot this photo for a school project on a short deadline and was really happy when it came out. I only had two frames left on the roll, so took the two of them of Dan. The first one my flashes went off as planned, and then on the second, they didn't, which happily created a much nicer photo.
Dan
Arget-
Frontside LipslideThe next is Colin
Findlater. I met him on this day for the purpose of shooting this photo and since then have became pretty good friends with him. He landed the 5-0 before I managed to set up my film camera, but, like a champ, he did it again. If you've been to this spot you know how gnarly this
hubba is.
Colin
Findlater- 5-0
The last photo is Isaac
Watamaniuk, and it was taken on my first big skate trip. We went to Houston over the New Year only to find out Houston isn't that fun without a vehicle. This spot was just off their light rail train between our hostel and downtown in a really sketchy neighborhood. A whole bunch of
whacko's and kooks got stoked on us skating, and a few of the saner ones warned us we should leave sooner than later. Before the sun goes down.
Isaac
Watamaniuk-
WallrideJames: Who or what is your favorite thing to take photos of?
Peter: Skating is easily my favorite subject to take photos of. Finding new and unique spots and getting a photo you know you're going to be stoked on is the best thing. My favorite people to shoot with are ones who constantly come up with something new and interesting to skate, like Mikey
Plantus, and Chris
Marleau. Anyone who's willing to compromise skating for the sake of a photo is good to shoot with. Daniel
Belanger, Dallas Ives, Potter - all tons of fun.
James: Can you expand on your meaning when you say that you like to shoot with people who are willing to "compromise skating for the sake of a photo"? Do you mean, taking the time to work with you, have setup time and go to spots that may be complimentary to a photo? Or am I totally off?
Peter: Basically, working with me to get a good photo, and not necessarily one of a banger. It can be anything from skating a
janky spot, to trying a trick after I fucked it up, or trying an easier trick because it will look better, in my whack artistic vision.
Aside from skating, shooting portraits is a lot of fun. You meet a lot of interesting characters while skating and they usually have a good story; capturing that story in a photograph is the same feeling as shooting a good skate photo. I like shooting architecture too, which probably comes from shooting so many city skate spots.
James: Have you ever gotten into trouble for shooting a photo?
Peter: Yeah, I got arrested for shooting a photo behind the
Labatt Brewery in London. We'd just gotten the shot and I started packing up to go home when a security guard comes out. We expect the usual "You know you shouldn't be here, get out." Instead the guard goes "You know you shouldn't be here, you're under arrest." Bewildered, we comply - what else would we do. We wait around for the cops, and two pull up and joke around with us, one of them asks about my photo gear and seems genuinely interested. Then Canine van pulls up, along with a third car. All for two kids skateboarding and taking photos. I still haven't paid the ticket.
James: Shout out to
Sudbury? What are your 3 favorite spots from home?
Peter: I don't even think
Sudbury really has spots. There's a lot of rocks, and some holes in the ground. Some rocks are more fun than others. The
SouthRidge Mall has a few fun things to skate - some wooden benches, a sloped manual pad, a 3 up 3 down, an 8 stair with a steep handrail, and some banked ledges. Man, that sounds way better than it is. There's the Ghetto Bank downtown, which is just a steep and sketchy brick bank you can do tricks into. Random rocks probably give the best sessions. And there's always more to be found. I love
Sudbury's rocks.
James
Denomme-
Frontside Ollie
James: The last time we spoke, you mentioned that you had been thinking a lot about
HOW you take photos….Can you take me through your typical thought process from having an idea to making the photo a physical thing?
Peter: Shooting photos of people skating doesn't feel that different from skating itself: you might show up at a spot with a trick or photo in mind, but you might try something completely different when you get there because your idea isn't working. Or you get to a completely random spot you never expected to go to, but get something you're totally proud of. Each photo is totally different, but it should feel like the session it was taken in. Ideally the photo looks like what I imagine the trick felt like. That's my ultimate thought process in taking a skate photo...how I can portray what this skating feels like. If I've done that, I can't do any better.
James: O.K, time for a absurd theoretical and final question, If you had a choice between losing your sense of sight or alternatively losing your hearing and one foot, which would you choose and why?
Peter: This question is fucking poor. I think I'd lose my hearing and one foot, because I used a pogo stick today and decided it would make a great prosthetic. Does Jon Comer still skate? He did it with one foot. It might add some spring in my step. I'm not excited about not hearing though. My favorite part of Indiana Jones is the beginning of the first one, where he is being chased by the boulder, and the music comes on. It's epic because of the music. Do you really want to take that away from me?
James: No, I guess not. Thanks for sharing with us Pete.
