Check the limited edition tees and read about the photographer who shot them.

When did you first start coming to New York City? What brought you here?
I grew up in Jersey, so I was always coming into the city with family and school trips to do the basic things like; go see the tree, go to a Broadway show, the museums, etc. I probably started coming in alone or with friends when I was a freshman in high school. All we did was hop on the train and in an hour, we were in the middle of it all. Those trips were not for the museums, they were to get lost in the city and get into trouble.

What keeps you coming back?
Well, my paycheck keeps me coming back, for sure, but the train is too expensive now and its going up in May. Fuck NJ Transit! Besides my job, the city is where everything is happening. I love living in Jersey. Where I am from has everything I need, but I continue to come to NYC for the experience.

Try and sum up New York City in a few words.
Out of fucking control…. And smelly.

What media do you normally work in?
I started shooting photos before digital cameras came about, so I have always been more comfortable using film and working in a dark room. Film is still my preferred medium to use, but don’t get me wrong, I still have the digital gear for shooting editorial, shows, and any freelance gigs I may come across. Back in college, I started using a 5×7 camera with the Polaroid Type 55 along with it and have since been exploring instant films.

How did you get into shooting photos? What/Who were your early influences and inspiration?
I guess I picked up a camera just to have some sort of documentation to what was going on in my life, as a lot of kids do. I would take it with me surfing or skating, but never got too into shooting extreme sports because the cost of getting the gear was so much money. I started to take photography more seriously when I got into music and started taking my camera to shows in NYC, NJ, and Philly. At that time I think mostly Rock-n-Roll photographers were my main source of influence. I was raised listening to Bruce and The Stones, so I would always see photos of them. Anyone who shot The Stones and could keep up with them, I was floored by. Awhile back I had a chance to work for Bob Gruen, a rock photographer who shot everyone from Blondie to The Sex Pistols. I didn’t do anything crazy, I was mostly just filing prints and scanning negatives, but just seeing his catalog of prints blew me away. I still cherish the times I got to listen to stories of what was going on when he was on tour with those bands. Not many people could hang with those musicians and actually get a job done!

What inspires you now?
I think the same things still inspire me. I think most of my favorite photographers, I have found out about because they shot music. The people that I surround myself with have opened me up to so much more than I knew about. Daily living also plays into a lot that inspires me. I live in Jersey, work in New York City. I am never in one spot for too long, so I am constantly seeing different types of people, cultures and over all attitudes.

When did you first start skateboarding? Do you remember your first board?
Well, if you want to get technical about it, I got my first skateboard when I was probably in 4th grade. It was a Nash, it was flat as hell it had clear red wheels, and I had no idea what to do with it. I think I really started skating (or what I thought was skating) around freshman year of high school, maybe. I was never any good, never took it seriously, it was just something to fool around with when I had nothing to do. I was more into the culture and lifestyle that came along with skateboarding.

What got you into skating? Early influences?
Body Boarding, surfing and the beach got me into skateboarding. Living by the beach in Jersey there is never consistent waves. And when there were big waves, I would be on the beach shooting because I could never handle the big swells. That shit is scary! It was always friends that influenced me, the ones that taught me, well, tried to teach me how to surf. They still inspire me to this day. Skating, surfing, all those things… I never tried them out to progress to be the best, it was just to keep me busy. Keep me from partying too early on.

What designers in the skateboard world are doing it right?
Everyone at Zoo, that has come and gone, I have been looking up to. I mean, of course, The Gonz, but also The Quiet Life crew, Ben Horton blows my mind along with everyone involved in the RVCA Artist Network Program. I really enjoy mixed media art. Using your hands and getting dirty is always something I enjoy.

What did you just design for ZOO YORK?
Zoo came to me to do a special capsule of NYC photo t-shirts for PacSun. I am always out constantly shooting the city so I dug in my archives and picked a pile of shots. After narrowing it down we came up with a few strong styles that worked. I have also shot photos for past Deck series and some shirt graphics here and there.

What else do you do with your free time?
Recently I have gotten into producing home made wine with a collective of friends. We do everything from get the grapes shipped from Napa, to pressing the grapes, to tasting, to bottling it right out of a friends garage. My first barrel is almost ready to be bottled and enjoyed. I plan on doing this many times over. We are also getting into making home made whiskey. I think that is when the trouble will start.

For more from BW, visit:

www.theBWproject.com
www.flickr.com/bcwoodward
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www.thebwproject.tumblr.com

This was Eli’s first trip out of the country. Words cannot describe how excited he was to skate all the Europe spots. He pretty much dragged us to Le Dome to skate the double set. The run up and landing was covered in broken glass. I told him to wait while we swept it off a bit, but he didn’t listen. Here he is telling me he should have listened. Still psyched.

Eli leaving his mark in Paris. Bottom of the Le Dome double set.

You couldn’t turn around in New York City last summer without seeing Chaz.

Zered and Brandon give Chaz an official welcome to the team roughing up in Atlanta. They stuffed him into a dumpster shortly after.

Suski gearing up for a long van ride through the European countryside.

Casual New Yorker.

As excited as Eli was about his first europe trip, he wasn’t quite prepared for the sometimes grueling schedule. Here we had to check out of our hotel at 3am to catch a 5am flight to the next demo.

Anthony Claravall was our tour guide in Shenzhen, China. This is what most filmers look like after filming lines all day in the blazing sun.

Westgate and Mike Manzoori check out a long rail in queens while filming for Emerica’s “Stay Gold”. Not sure if Manzoori could see at this point.

Mike Manzoori got an eye infection when he came to NY to film with Brandon for “Stay Gold“. At one point he literally couldn’t see. Turns out if he had waited to go to the hospital one more day he would have lost his eye. Suffering in the Bronx.

Forrest doesnt do budget. While the rest of us drink beer by the case, Forrest keeps it classy with some gas station champagne.

Forrest with a kickflip to fakie in chinatown. We shot this on the Fourth of July a couple years ago.

Zered doesn’t let the fact that there is no ball stop him from playing some hoops out on Staten Island.

Zered playing pool after a day of skating, at one of his favorite places in NYC: Doc Holidays.

Zered contemplating the 19 hour flight home from Johannesburg, South Africa.

Zoo trips aren’t all 5 star hotels, and champagne and caviar (unless your Forrest)  4 guys and one tiny euro bathroom with one towel. Donny and Forrest kept us up all night regaling us with stories of tours past. All we needed were the smore’s.

Driving from Prague back to Germany our drivers stopped in the small town they were from (no idea which one) and had the guys do an impromptu demo while they took one of the cars for a few hours to get a radio or something. This mini was off to the side of the skatepark, and was actually really good.

This rail is in Toronto, Canada. We were on a week long trip, and this was the one day that it didn’t rain. The rail is super tall, and up to this point i dont think it had been skated yet Brandon handled it first go.

This is a rugged little quarterpipe that Suski and some bros made on the side of a bike path in Tuscon. We shot this while the NY crew ate Arizona bagels for breakfast in the shade.

Suski loves live music. Anytime we hear music playing, we know Suski is going to wander off in search of it. Could be bongos, guitar, a flute, if its live, he wants to hear it, and if possible join in. Here he is at Bercy in Paris jammin’ away.

While Suski jammed on the guitar, Brandon suited up in his euro scootering outfit and scooted the afternoon away at Bercy.

Zered and Aaron show you what teamwork is all about by bailing out this spot in Phoenix for Brandon.

Hand Grenades are dangerous…

This is what happens when you drink too many handgrenades in South Africa. You either pass out like our guide Brendan, or turn into a tagging maniac like Dr. Z.

A good friend of ours Matt Mignanelli is having a solo art show in Glasgow tommorow.  Check it out.

Welcome to the first installment of a new weekly feature on the ZOO blog, THE CRONAN FILES! Cronan is the ZOO YORK staff photographer, he travels all around the world shooting the team. You have seen his photos in all the mags and now check what happens before/after or during the shoots, tours & trips. Every Friday we will be dropping some of his flicks that didn’t or weren’t allowed to be published. Peep it…

This is an alternate angle of Brandon doing a back 50-50 on a really tall flat bar in Queens. The other angle was shot fish and was used in his Institute catalog. This was after doing a CCS signing in New Jersey, and we still had a bit of daylight left.

Brandon taking a break and contemplating a trick at a gnarly spot in Boston. This was a few hours before we shot his frontblunt that was used on the latest CCS cover.

Two brothers horsing around in the Bronx. They were hanging out while Suski refilmed his backsmith.

This was right after a CCS signing in New Jersey. We saw this spot on the side of the road on the way back to the City. We got the boot right after he did this. Dropped Chaz off at the airport, and we went and shot Brandon’s 50-50.

Chaz had never seen a tumbleweed before. Come to think of it, I don’t think any of us had.

Filming mission to Arizona during the final months before State of Mind came out. Thanks to Joe Hammeke for hooking up a cool spot.

This is a pretty well known spot in Malmo Sweden. Its pretty tough to take a bad looking photo there. Its the middle of summer, but it is really cold there. Fore jumped into the water shortly after this was taken and we all though he was going to get hypothermia.

One of those spots you pass by every day, and never notice. Somehow Suski realized that this was possible.

There were a couple months a year or so ago that this spot was heavily sessioned. Ron warming up with a nice kickflip before dark sets in.

Bronx locals who cheered Suski on as he refilmed his Backsmith in the Bronx.

Suski and I originally shot this the week before at dusk, and it was filmed long, with no lights. That was the photo that came out in his TWS pro spotlight. He decided that it might look cool filmed fish, so we all went back up the following Sunday and he filmed it again.

Z hamming it up during a catalog shoot last year.

Our good friend John Joseph of the Cro Mags held it down at their show in NYC this past weekend.