“Through ‘Flow Skate’, I strive to create a feeling through my photography: the feeling of jam skating.”
In October 2023, I started to roller skate more often; more often being a couple of times a month instead of a couple of times a year. I found myself enjoying it quite a bit. One night in November or December, it’s difficult to remember exactly when, I went to a new rink; one, that until that night, I didn’t even know existed: Winnwood Skate Center. I saw people doing things on skates that, at the time, I thought should be impossible. I would soon find out that this style of skating was called “jam skating”, and it was about to take the vast majority of my attention for the next year. Beginning in January 2024, I started to skate weekly. Things picked up after that, and come August school started. With school came AP Studio Art, which is how this whole portfolio was born. When asked what I was going to make my portfolio about, I knew two things. First, it had to be a photography portfolio; it's the medium I’m the most comfortable with, and the medium that I would most enjoy improving. Second, it had to have something to do with jam skating. I was really becoming a part of the community, and I wanted to give back to it in some way, so I created this portfolio.
Through “Flow Skate”, I strive to create a feeling through my photography: the feeling of jam skating. I achieve this through many techniques. Each photo in this portfolio represents one or more of these techniques. There is one technique that is used in every photo. That technique is gesture, referring to how a person or group of people is positioned in frame and posed. This technique is the basis of how I achieve the goal of this portfolio; it is the people who skate at the rink who are largely responsible for the feeling I am describing with this portfolio. The way they look and the way they move is a major part of what makes jam skating what it is.
When you put color as a whole under a microscope, so to speak, you’ll find that it has an uncountable amount of uses and purposes. In context, it can mean almost anything. Take a look at the colors that are predominant in these photos, they represents passion, a love for something, and a certain feeling that I think can’t be explained by just words alone.
“Color”
There's a technique that is often frowned upon in the sports photography community and seen as improper or inappropriate: by lowering your shutter speed while shooting action or something fast moving, you can capture motion blur in the subject. In a normal sports photography setting, this would be frowned upon because in photos from most other sports, we already know that the subject is moving quickly; and therefore, there is no reason to distort the subject by using this technique. However, I feel as though people don’t always fully understand the pace at which jam skating takes place. My hope with these pieces is that they help to provide context as to how fast-paced the rink really is.
“Motion”
In the beginning, this project started out as “how can I represent the jam skating community”, and I think the community remains very important to capturing this feeling. I believe that the feeling of the rink resides almost entirely in the community. Taking photos of individual people can give an idea of what a community looks and feels like, but it won’t be able to tell the full story.
“Groups”
Despite what this portfolio might have you thinking, the jam skating community is no stranger to “media”. Videography is incredibly popular in the jam skating community; this popularity comes from how effective video is at showcasing motion and sports. With social media like Instagram, it’s easier than ever to share videos with a whole community, and in turn, help the slow yet steady growth of the community. Also, I think that videography helps in creating the feeling of the rink, as I believe that anything that affects the community also affects the feeling of the rink — because the feeling is the community.
“Media”
There's another feeling at the rink: love. Ballroom skating is, in my opinion, the most elegant style of skating. One of the few types of slow skating out there, it creates a different feel on the rink, not entirely different but different nonetheless. This feeling of love showcases how the rink isn’t just a place for friends, but it’s a place for partners too.
