At the end of last summer I shot another part of my UV project series ‘Beneath the Surface’. This time it was none other than Philipp Schuster from Vienna, Austria joining me to capture skateboarding in a different light.
Philipp is a photographer himself and an Austrian skateboarding legend. That made it quite easy for me to convince him. We also involved street artist Christian Tanzer who came up with the graphic idea and the execution of it as well.
A few weeks before the shoot I went to Vienna to check some skate spots with Philipp - eventually we ended up choosing a DIY spot that was designed and built by skaters themselves.
The day before the shoot I spray painted the whole area light grey so we would have a clean canvas for the shoot, and for Christian to place his graphic ideas.
Communication problems on the shoot day meant we ended up in three different locations in Vienna at the same time. However this incident gave me the opportunity to buy more colors, which in the end were crucial for finishing the graphic off.
When the sun dropped we started shooting and after a few attempts we got the shot we wanted. Every time it is a special moment when the UV lights flash for the first time and you see the entire image illuminated for the first time.
It was such a cool experience to see something evolve out of nothing, just by three guys working together for a day. It definitely makes you feel alive and satisfied at the end and for sure this is quality time spent you’ll never regret.