The Two Loves
Photography and Skateboarding in Rio de Janiero
Photographs by Fernando Junior
Cherry Rocha
Fernando Junior is a Brazilian skateboarder and photographer based in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. He began photographing in the mid-1990s, taking his camera with him during neighborhood skate sessions with his friends. More than 20 years later, his subjects are still the people he skates with. “It’s all about the two things I love the most,” says Fernando, “Photography and skateboarding.”
Gustavo
What Fernando enjoys the most about combining his two loves is being able to connect with his subjects. In his action shots, the connection comes from challenging one another. “The skateboarder has the challenge of getting the trick right,” he explains, “and I, as the photographer, need to compose the trick and the landscape at exactly the right time.”
Fernando and Will
In his portrait project called “Skateboard Carioca”, Fernando finds connections with skateboarders he barely knows. “I find my subjects in skate parks,” he says, describing his process. “They can be people who have had a strong impact on skateboarding or are from the next generation. I approach them and ask if they would like to have their portrait taken for the project. The whole premise is not having a schedule to shoot, just capturing the subject from where they are.”
You can find more of Fernando’s documentation of the skateboarding scene in Rio de Janeiro on his Instagram, @fmajuniorphoto
