I met Nicolas in Los Angeles about 4-5 years ago. Without knowing, we have several things in common, in addition to the skateboard we are travelers and we both grew up living in United States and Colombia. In fact I found his work several years ago when I had my own skate page skate.afar25.com (2010 – 2015) – there I shared the work of any photographer and for some reason I found his page and about 6 years before I met him, I shared his pictures on my skate page. Nicolas is an excellent photographer who has a unique talent. Make the person being photographed feel comfortable, in this way the image feels real, the essence of the person is transmitted through his lens.
He is a very social person, and for that reason I have been able to meet several people with whom I go skating all the time. He has also helped me learn more about the history of skateboarding in Bogotá and Colombia in general, since he started a few years before me and is very connected to the scene.
Andres. When and how did you start skateboarding?
Nicolas. I started when I was 13 or 14 years old. One day I was walking and I saw a man skating. I saw him doing a kickflip and right away I went to talk to him and ask “what was that? How did you do it?” and he told me about a skate shop in Bogotá, La Jungla, which was on 106 street with 15 avenue. That was a couple of months before Christmas and since I saw that I asked for a skateboard, and in December I got one.
A. What skateboard was it?
N. It was a New Deal Rene Matthyssen, I think the trucks were Venture and the wheels I don’t remember well
A. How did you know what to buy?
N. I didn’t know, I asked them what they recommended, I had no idea to be honest. I chose the skateboard because of the drawing, I don’t remember the drawing but I do remember that it was a Rene Matthyssen and it was green
A. Were you skating alone from the beginning?
N. I had some friends in the neighborhood, they all had skateboards. But back then, we just raced around the block. Afterwards, the same man I saw that first time doing the kickflip, I asked him all the time to teach me and with him once I left the neighborhood. We went to Bulevar Niza to skate and there were other skaters like Dumi or Carlos Plazas, who was one of the best skaters I’ve seen there.
A. What is the name of the guy who did the kickflip in front of you?
N. Freddy. But I can’t remember the last name. He skated well and had a reputation for stealing from people. He tricked me once. I had some Venture trucks and he had some Goldwin that were Chinese that broke easily, and he told me that those were better for me and I don’t know what, so we changed them. And months later I found out that he had tricked me. But either way at that time I didn’t do much, so my trucks never broke down.
A. Did you only skate with him?
N. He was the first I met but from there you know what skateboarding is like, you start to meet people. That first time we went out I met Dubi and from there I started to go every weekend to Bulevar Niza or La Floresta to skate with him. I lived in Cedritos. In fact, from that time on, Sundays were at La Estrella.
A. In Downtown Bogota?
N. Yes.
A. How many of you were going to skate?
N. We were about 5 or 6, and there we would meet another 20-30 skaters who were skating the spot. In our group we skated with Carlos Plazas, who was one of the best skaters in Bogotá at that time, so we always hung out with everyone, because everyone wants to skate with the best. That was in the year 1993 – 1994
A. What’s the first skate video you remember?
N. 411 video magazine, at that time I think they were at number 10, the video from Blockhead Skateboards. I don’t remember the name but it was Jeremy Wray, I was a fan of Jeremy Wray. I really liked the video of Colors, in that video he skated with Kris Markovich
A. Was Jeremy Wray your favorite skateboarder?
N. Yes
A. Did you dressed like him and tried his tricks?
N. More or less, something like that, I tried what he did. He did all the basic tricks on the most gigantic gaps and stairs, so I would do the same but on 3 stairs and I felt like I was him. I did a Backside 180 on the 4 stairs of La Estrella and I believed I was Jeremy Wray.
A. Did you play any sports?
N. I liked everything, but when I was introduced to the skateboard, I didn’t play anything again, I just skated. I played soccer, basketball, baseball, whatever. And you know there’s always soccer in Colombia. But once skateboarding came, I just skate, nothing more.
A. At what point does photography come into your life?
N. Photography came when I was about 27 years old, after a long time of skating. And it came accidentally, I guess, I don’t know. A friend, Flavio Piedrahita, had a new camera that nobody knew how to use. He bought the camera to photograph and film Damian (his son) who was a little kid. So we went on a tour and I messed up my foot. They were all skating and I had nothing to do, so I borrowed the camera and started taking pictures of everyone. I took a few good pictures of everyone skating, some skating over a trash can, some grinding and so on.
A. Do you remember what camera it was?
N. I don’t remember the model, but it was a Sony that had a zoom. It was like a compact automatic, the lens came off. So we started taking photos and I liked it. When we got to Bogotá, I asked him to borrow the camera, and he lent it to me for about a week or so.
In that week I went out with Juan Dávila to take photos and we began to create several photos and from there I really liked it. I started researching where to take classes and all that and I jumped right in.
A. What photographers did you like at the time?
N. The truth is that I liked fashion photographers more than skate photographers. In skateboarding I was never a fan of anyone, I liked everyone’s work but I didn’t like anyone’s work specifically
A. Do you like the work of fashion photography better?
N. Yes, I find it interesting because it uses more techniques, it uses too many different techniques and I wanted to learn those techniques to be able to apply them to skateboarding. Skate photography is always the same, you have to find an angle, illuminate the trick and that’s it. It becomes somewhat monotonous.
A. At what point do you buy your first camera?
N. I started studying using Flavio’s camera and a few months later I bought my first camera. An analog was the first, which is easier to get. I bought it from a pawn shop and then from another pawn shop I bought my first digital camera. A Canon XT, which now makes me laugh, because the screen was very small and the quality was poor, but I did a lot with that camera.
A. You have been skating for 25-26 years, why do you keep skating?
N. Because when I don’t skate I get depressed. I don’t know. So the only solution I have is to go skating and everything changes. Actually that’s the only reason. When I don’t skate I feel like life is very boring and monotonous. There’s nothing to do. And everything I see on the streets, I think of skateboarding, and if I think of skateboarding and I’m not skateboarding, is depressing, then it’s time to fall on the floor or get dirty for a bit.
A. You like to travel, what connection does it have with skateboarding and photography?
N. Everything goes together, in harmony. Traveling is going to new places to skate, there is always a new place to be able to skate and to record the moment. Everything lines up, it’s the perfect combo. It’s what everyone wants to do in life. Travel to be able to skate in different places and record the moments. It’s a way of life that I like.
A. What are your three favorite cities that you have traveled to?
N. Los Angeles, Barcelona and the third one is difficult but I have to give it to Bogotá. Bogotá is not for everyone but I do like it, it’s all street.
A. What do you hope to get out of Sk8 2 Live?
N. I hope to inspire someone to do something new. Let it be something continuous, which is inspired by what I do so that they do it with their own touch.
