Captured & Released I

WORDS & PHOTOS by David Marano

The way I see it, surfing and skating feed off each other. Either you’re on a skateboard when the waves are shitty, or you’re on a surfboard when the waves are firing! There’s no competition between the two, you draw inspiration from the other and it keeps you innovating.

Being in Southern California we’re fortunate enough to have the best of both worlds. And if you’ve never picked up a surfboard before, it might be difficult to relate. But skating ultimately was conceived from surfing back in the 50’s, so we do relate. The early renditions of skateboards were meant to surf the streets. Eventually, evolving over the years and becoming what it is today. Downhill, street skating, or surfing, they draw cohesion. It allows us to mirror the styles we see and are drawn too. Whether you adapt a surfing style into the way you approach a power slide down a hill, or steez-out your ollie, we all derive some type of influence from the other. And that’s dope!

I do admit, I surf first and skate second, but I still hold strong to the influence from skating and watching skate films, especially before I go out and surf. That’s why it’s so rad being able to relate the two. There are so many skaters out there I know that have never touched a surfboard in their lives, but have a style that relates so closely to surfing. It’s something I try to mimic to the best of my abilities, and bring out in the water.

I was psyched to have Justin Reynolds as my first slashie (skater/surfer) to take part in this Captured & Released column. This dude rips at skating, surfing, and life. So we ended up connecting for a few days of photo-taking to get some imagery of him ripping at all three. After our last day of shooting he simply laid down the exact direction I wanted to go for this here article, and stated:

I’m a product of Southern California—Long Beach and Seal Beach to be precise. Everybody I grew up with skated and surfed, there was never any separation. Surfers had half-pipes and skaters had a quiver of surfboards, period. We surfed the curb cuts and banked driveways of the alleys and blasted skate inspired airs on the hollow bowls of South Side. It wasn’t until High School, when I met Danny Montoya that I discovered street skating that was current in the early 1990s. Up until that point I think my skateboarding never left the 80s. I’ve always placed style at the top of how surfing and skateboarding are measured. My Uncle Butch told me that my dad always had a beautiful style riding waves, so I watched and emulated his form. I dreamt of being a professional surfer and ended up making a career out of being a skater with surf style. . . only in California. - Justin Reynolds