What’s your name, age, and where are you from?
My name is Maximillian Menacher, I’m 25 years old and I live in New York.

Looking back, how much do you think going to photo school helped you become the photographer you are today?
I think it kind of helped me, but I don’t know if it was worth the money. I think I could have just moved to New York and lived off that money and interned somewhere for six months instead of spending ten months in photo school. It helped me get to know the equipment but once I moved to New York and started working in a studio that helped even more. It did help me focus my eye and decide this is what I want to do business-wise, but I think you’re really better off getting in and assisting someone instead of going to an art institute and not really knowing where to go with it.

How did you manage to break into the fashion scene in New York?
I don’t know if I’d say I’ve broken into the fashion scene in New York, more of just the photo scene. What helped me do that was working for studios, assisting photographers, doing tests for the major agencies, shooting for myself and meeting the major girls and eventually getting noticed.

You’ve kept various blogs of your own work and work that inspires you for a number of years now, what keeps you motivated to share those images on such a regular basis?
Updating them is easy, as far my inspiration blog gunfire. Really I just like to get lost in tumblrs, there’s so much cool stuff on there and so much stuff that inspires me. Whenever I do a photo shoot I’m looking at inspiration so it helps me organize what I like on a page, so I just do it for myself. Just because people like my personal style they choose to follow me I guess. As far as my blogs of my own work, I really just update those for myself as well, I don’t really promote myself yet through those so it’s more just for me to keep track of what I’ve shot and where I’m going. I am working on a website that should be done in a month or so, as soon as I have enough work that I feel is good enough to be out there. But right now I’m not promoting myself, just because of who I work for and what I’m doing it doesn’t seem relevant yet, but soon enough.

Your work utilizes a variety of digital and film formats – how do you choose what kind of camera to use for a shoot?
I choose the format of camera for a specific shoot based on a look I have in mind for the shoot going into it.

Why and how do you find so many beautiful women to shoot, what about them is it that makes you want to shoot them?
I like to shoot beautiful women because I like to create beautiful pictures and so it helps to have the most beautiful people you can find in front of the camera. It used to be a problem for me when I lived in Minneapolis and LA but as soon as I moved to New York and started working with the major agencies it became pretty easy. Now the problem is finding clothes, so stylists, holler at me.

Do you still make time to shoot skateboarding and/or snowboarding, or when you go out riding do you want to get away from photography?
I do still make time to shoot skating, I’m working on a new series right now for my new website. I don’t really shoot snowboarding because if I have the opportunity to snowboard I don’t want anything to do with a camera. I do ride to get away sometimes, I skate the Chelsea skatepark in New York once a week, it’s therapy. I’ll always shoot it though I think, it’s just part of who I am.

Max

Shout-outs/thank yous/last words?
Thank you Nicole Wing for being a huge inspiration in my life and always pushing me to do better. Thank you Mariano Vivanco for allowing me to work with you, you’re an amazing photographer and a good friend. Thank you Hudson studios for supporting me, all the agencies for supporting me, and anybody who’s supported my work down the line. Thanks to everybody who’s sent me good energy, I love all of you.

Nydansk Sacha Maric is an English born photographer who has been based in Copenhagen and shooting just about everything since 2004, With work for Norse, Wallpaper, WAD, Libertine-Libertine, and Nylon amongst others, his latest project “Good Mother and Father” is a step in the other direction and a personal look at life, death and sex. It’s being released tomorrow at the Playtype concept store from 16-19 so come along to see some amazing images.

Yes this album is old, it’s also rather good if you like that kinda thing. Young Montana? on the other hand is not old, but young, surprisingly unconfusingly he’s not from Montana, but London. I have a crush on this album, it’s called Limerence, look it up if you don’t know what that means and you will have the added bonus of learning a new word.

Galleri Naboløs gets all physical this summer.

As an extension of their online platform they will open a summer showroom, located on Valkendorfsgade 15, as a space where works can be seen in their natural form, without the distortion of a back lit screen.

Hosting regular exhibitions and events over the summer, it’s best to keep an eye on their schedule at www.nabolos.dk, or on the book.

You’ll receive a warm welcome, weekdays from 10-16, 12-16 Saturday. Closed on Sunday.

Doors open on Friday, May 11, between 17.00 and 20.00 and you are welcome to join the Naboløs crew for an aperitif and chat about….., how shit the weather is.

More pictures from Saturday’s event shot by Spencer on his fancy old camera as seen in the last post.

Nanny is more sad about this than when Michael Jackson died. Seriously. Besides his hordes of books, Where The Wild Things Are is an iconic cracker of a book that we all loved as kids and love to share with our kids. The world just lost a great mind.

Here’s a few pics from today’s event at Jarmers. Thanks to everyone that came out to chill in the sun, watch a bit of skating and absolutely ravage the bbq in 10 minutes.

Click on a pic to run through them.

Lucas Vercetti, cover of Odd Future Tape Vol. 2

What’s your name, age, and where are you from?

My name is Julian Berman and I currently inhabit Los Angeles, California. I am twenty years old.

Tyler, the Creator

How’re you doing man, it seems like you’ve been doing a lot of these kind of things lately?

You know what Spencer, I have been doing rather well actually. School sucks, but thankfully it is almost done. For the most part, I have just been skateboarding, going to school, and going to the goodwill practically every single day. I need to get in the grind of shooting a bit more though, especially since I have not necessarily had an interesting gig in a while.

From District Protocol commission

Following your photos in the last year it seems you’ve really transitioned into shooting more commissioned work – how do you reconcile the difference between shooting for yourself or for a commission? Does your process change?

There is always that fine line between shooting for fun or a hobby, and shooting for work. I don’t know if that necessarily comes with age, or me just being lazy. Having a gig allows me to not only get my creative juices flowing, but also have a sense of creative guideline, or even a GOAL that these shots need to achieve. Besides, having your work published is badass. I still love shooting for myself, but most of the time I end up just bumming over the shots and scrapping them. In the end though, it is great to find a balance between the two.

In previous interviews you’ve been a big advocate for shooting film, but I noticed a lot of your recent photos have been from your x100, a digital camera. Have you moved away from shooting as much film, or are we just not seeing it online?

The X100 is a neat little camera. I have just been a huge fan of experimenting with different formats and mediums, and I figured it would be cool to dip back into digital for a second. To be honest, I am already over it and cannot wait to break out the Mamiya 7 again. Also, many clients and class assignments favor shooting digital for assignments, so it is a tad forced… such a shame. All in all, I will still prefer film over anything.

The city of Los Angeles definitely has a significant presence in your photos, but you also seem to get around the country quite a bit. Do you see yourself shooting in more varied locations in the future or do you plan to stick around LA?

To be honest, I am rather burnt out on shooting in Los Angeles. Maybe this is why there has not been much of an influx in new photographs lately, I guess you can call it a loss of inspiration. I absolutely adore traveling, and think that shooting photographs in a new or foreign location is the coolest thing ever. I definitely hope to travel more in the near future, that is for sure.

Tyler, the Creator

When you create a diptych do you shoot the photos with that kind of presentation in mind or usually decide that when editing?

The diptych is a pretty neat little trend in the current state of photography. They are definitely not too serious, and most of the time look rather silly but they can actually end up with a rather pleasing presentation. Usually I will just have two photographs that I feel would look better together, rather than taking up two posts or whatever. Other times I will actually formulate these couples prior or as I shoot, in hopes that they actually do turn out well together on the computer screen. Most of the time it does not really work, though.

Though your photos of skateboarding are few and far between, you seem to still adhere to the general aesthetic of skateboarding in a majority of your photos – do you consider yourself a skateboard photographer?

I am most definitely not a skateboard photographer, but I would LOVE to shoot some more skating. I always thought the techniques and mathematics behind shooting skateboarding were so cool, definitely far different than traditional portraiture and studio lighting. I suppose I just fell out of the skateboarding loop as a whole, the entire ‘skate crew’ started to disperse, and now it seems that nobody really skateboards anymore. Hopefully in the near future I will get back into it though, I would really enjoy that.
What direction do you see your photography going this year?

Obviously in the near future I would love to travel and complete as many jobs as possible. I will still be in school for photography, taking the same bullshit lighting and portraiture classes. I’ve got some interesting gigs coming up, so we will see what happens there. In the end, all I really need is my Mamiya 7, a flash, a brick of Portra 400, and some babes or butts or something to accomplish my goals.

Julian, photo by lorenzo porras

Shout outs/thank yous?
Thank you for everything, Spencer. Shouts to Bitchslap, the Mamiya 7 Flickr user group, the straight edge, cheesy gordita crunches, my parents, my cats, and my friends all throughout the WORLD absolutely killing it in the photo game. Goodbye.

Good morning summer! Rub those sleepy eyes and get ready for Jarmers in Pyjamas – Streetmachine‘s biannual celebration of all things summer, skate and max hygge. Best pyjamas wins a compete.

Jarmers in Pyjamas: Saturday 15th May 15-20

The best thing about the Jarmers event is the mixed crowd that comes by to hang out (And the beers from Guld Tuborg). It’s clearly not a skate-only event, with all sorts dropping by for a touch of hygge and a bit of a laugh. You can even bring your iPhone.

Below is a wee clip we banged together last year. Maybe even last last year. Hope to see you there this time.

The future of snowboarding is here! Can’t wait to turn pro next year by dropping some mad 180′s, double grabbers and some back foot bonks. 

Are you up for some crazy Spring mayhem stock & sample sale? Then you should go check out Libertine-Libertine and Soulland’s sale, which starts on Thursday, May 3rd at 11am and ends at Friday, May 4th at 8pm (it closes on Thursday at 8pm as well so you won’t be able to stay for the night). Make sure to bring some cold cash and prepare yourself for a crazy Spring sale with up top 90% off the original price. It all happens at Fake Diamond Records, Gammel Kongevej 39D (Baghuset). Check out the flyer for more info.

Saturday I received a new camera. An old Russian camera called Lubitel 2. More than 2 million were produced between 1958 and 1980 in the factory in Leningrad. It’s pure magic to touch a camera like this, though it’s not making anywhere near as sharp images as a decent camera, it’s fun to use and explore a new way of doing photography.
I got my film back from the lab this morning and rushed to my photo school to scan it. Here’s the first couple of pics – expect more during the summer.

- Lasse Kofod.

Here’s the official poster for this year’s Copenhell festival. Now a well established part of the festival circuit for many, all they’re missing to complete the look is an app that plays all the featured artist’s albums backwards.

Copenhell: June 15+16
Tickets here. 

What can I say? You fuck off on holiday for a month and nothing gets done. Here are the Danish ski champs pics that are so late I’d forgotten about them. Looks like good times, pity I couldn’t make it this year but was stoked Kenneth Nguyen stepped up to the ‘job’. It’s all good though, these are 1000 times better than anything I could nab no matter how many battery packs and extra flashes I tied to my outfit.

Click on the first pic to open the gallery.

Thanks Kenneth and DM I SKI.

The lovely chaps at Bonito distribution are holding their bi-annual warehouse stock and sample sale for 3 days from next Thursday 3/5.

All details on the flyer, or, if you absolutely HAVE to have another excuse to stare at facebook, start by looking at this.

Two of our favourite mini gangs, Libertine Libertine and Oh Dawn, are teaming up once again to offer us a 3 day pop up store and gallery in Copenhagen. It’s all going down at Kødboderne 14 from this Thursday until Saturday. Check the flyer for more deets or go to the facebook version.

Once again V1 prove their clout as a major player: Renowned Dutch-born, New York-culture photographer, Ari Marcopoulos shows a selection of his work with his first solo show in Scandinavia, Here and Now at V1 Gallery.

The exhibition opens Friday 27.04.12 and will show until 19.05.12

Peter Kim just dropped this on us: his PhD in facial hair, which is a brief graphic history of the beard and how they are perceived today. He’s dead interested in hearing your feedback so please leave a comment below for him.


Created by: Online PhD

It’s Record Store Day on Saturday. Hurra.

It’s a celebration of the unique culture surrounding the thousands of independently owned record stores around the world, that have brought the joy of music to our ear canals.

A Record Store Day participating store is defined as a shop based retailer whose product line consists of at least 50% music retail, whose company is not publicly traded and whose ownership is at least 70% locally owned.
(In other words, we’re talking real, live, physical, indie record stores—not online retailers or corporate behemoths).

I’m glad to say my favourite local vinyl store in Copenhagen, Sound Station, is taking part and a few of the spots in the UK…. I’ve spent way too much time and money in over the years…, Jumbo and Crash in Leeds, Rough Trade  in London and Piccadilly in Manchester.
Vinyl Exchange, also in Manchester, do not seem to be involved, as do Harold Moores Records on Great Marlborough Street in London, but they are old faves so they get a mention here.

Last Shop Standing, The Rise, the fall and the rebirth of the independent record shop is a documentary celebrating the unique spirit of comradeship and entrepreneurial ingenuity that has enabled so many record shops to keep operating, against the backdrop of massive changes in the music industry……..

and the documentary ‘Vinyl’ is a brilliant expose of about record collecting and…… maybe getting your fingers a little too dusty.

Sidewalk Skateshop re-opened in new surroundings yesterday. They’ve moved from Istedgade to Enghave Plads and celebrated with hotdogs, summertunes and a Best Trick contest at the Enghave skatespot.

Congratulations from the BS Crew.

Photo from the best trick-contest by Lasse Kofod.

Director Braden King’s beautiful film ‘Here’ had it’s premiere in New York on the 13th of April and it has some screenings at the IFC Center this week that you should catch, even if you think you don’t have time. 

The film’s DOP, Lol Crawley was interviewed in the last issue of Bitchslap Mag and one of the film’s first reviews in the New York Times noted that, “visually, ‘Here’, filmed by Lol Crawley, is a stunner”.

I couldn’t agree more.

Showtimes: 1120, 1345, 1625, 1905, 2145 until 19th April.

Southern Field Industries Waxed Hat
Mt. Rainier Design Reversible Anorak
Our Legacy First Floral Camo
Outlier 60/30 Chino
LVC Grey Melange Crew
Viberg Chromexcel Oxford

Source: http://www.freemanbrand.com/

The English Defence League organised a massive anti-Islam rally in Aarhus last weekend. Actually, only about 150 showed up but that was enough for over 4,000 more rational people to march through the city and say, “hey, you guys are kinda paranoid”. Stanners took Lasse along for company as he was covering the demonstrations for the Copenhagen Post. You can read the article here. But for people who like pictures, here are the rest of Lasse’s photos.

I don’t know about you, but I sure as hell played with those green army men when I was young, setting up lines of riflemen, holding on tight to the mortar guy because you only have one, and melting the faces and limbs off those dime a dozen crawling soldiers. Well kids these days now have these little gems to play with, Aj’s Toy Boarders which come in packs of 24 and 8 different poses, so you can break the wrist of the nose manual guy and snap the Legs of your friends set. 

Bitchslap writer and photographer Peter Stanners (in red hat) was caught in a mass arrest in Aarhus on Saturday while covering demonstrations against a rally by the English Defence League. Lasse managed to get him out though more than 80 others weren’t so lucky.

Photo by: Lasse Kofod

Hans-Jakob Brandt Big Air competiton

France Tignes

Photo By Kenneth Nguyen

Johan Duus, 1st place, Big Air.

France Tignes

Photo By Kenneth Nguyen

Nikolaj Vang, Danish Champion in halfpipe skiing.

France Tignes

Photo By Kenneth Nguyen

France Tignes

Photo By Kenneth Nguyen