Tag Archives: NYC

Melissa Holtz – Photographer

January 4, 2017 Jordan

I first saw Melissa’s work when I blogged about GIRL SKATE in September 2016 an event hosted by East River Skate Shop in collaboration with @femmeskate & @girlsridersorg / @gronewyorkcrew in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

She’s an amazing photographer who’s inspired by women who love to be active & have fun. Her photos are amazing and I’m so sorry for not posting this sooner. I thought I had and then when I was looking through my draft posts I was “OOPS”. So without further delay here are some of Melissa’s favorite skateboarding photos and her thoughts on shooting girl skateboarders.

from GIRL SKATE

How/when did you start photographing skateboarding? Do you skateboard? If so was it before or after you started shooting skaters?

I started photographing skateboarding last year as part of a larger project to photograph women who skateboard, longboard, bike, and run.

I have been learning to skateboard, longboard, and ride electric skateboards while photographing women skateboarders.

Nina

How did you get involved with shooting skater girls?

I asked around to see who knew women skateboarders and met skater girls that way. I later connected with GRO NYC.

How has girls skateboarding changed since you started shooting?

Within the past six months, a lot of NYC-based press (Vogue, W Mag, NYTimes) and fashion brands have focused more on NYC women skateboarders.

Roxana

What’s your favorite type of shooting – for example street, bowl, vert, long boarding ???

I like it all.

Where do you like to shoot – for example locations, parks, events, contests ???

I prefer to work with the skateboarder to make photos versus simply take photos. So I prefer to not shoot events where there are a lot of photographers just recording the action. I prefer engaging with skateboarders to make awesome photos.

Ninja Nemesis

What’s different about shooting skateboarding then other photography?

The way girls fly through the air in skateboarding is awesome.

Where can people see your work?

melisinestudio.com or @melisinestudio

Anna May

Did/do you have role models or people/organizations that continue to encourage and support your photography?

GRO NYC is an amazing and encouraging community for my photography, and also does great initiatives for getting more girls involved in skateboarding.

Jennifer

Thank you Melissa for sharing and for all the incredible photos you keep taking – you truly show girls at their most stylish.

Below “ollie into the sun” a favorite of mine because yes we are all meant to shine!

Lanna

Gonna Skateboard Everyday Until the Water is Warm Again

December 27, 2016 Jordan 1 Comment

Angelina aka angieshreds shares the picture above with this caption

Gonna skate everyday until the water is warm again.

Why are you skateboarding? There’s a zillion ways to have fun skateboarding and when you share your pictures and stories more girls try it.

Thanks for sharing Angelina & for letting us know about all these East Coast skate parks supporting the girls.

Above Angelina

had fun checking out @homage_brooklyn in NYC with @girlsridersorg ! Can’t wait for the next all girl skate session with GRO! Repost @gronewyorkcrew

Above Angelina’s at Forth Union

Skate & Culture Organization

Skatepark, art exhibition & event space, and food trucks at the Carousel building on the Asbury Park Boardwalk.

Pouring Rain Couldn’t Stop these Skater Girls

October 31, 2016 Jordan

Last night was epic!! My mom and I drove down to @forthunionap to host their first ever @girlsridersorg Girls Only skate sesh. It was pouring rain but that did not stop these awesome girls from coming out. By the end of the night we ended up with 46 girl shredders!! I gave lessons to 2 three year old girls who killed it! It was an amazing night! Nobody wanted to leave!! Thanks to the awesome staff and for everyone who made this happen! And thank u to the sponsors who donated some pretty #rad prizes!! @pinkpineapplesurf @downbeachskate @greenoliveclothingco

Zoe Herishen reporting about

Congrats to these girls who won Down Beach Skate decks!

Now some more memories. First a picture and a video thanks to Pink Pineapple Surf

and a picture from Green Olive Clothing Co. By the way Olive in the pictures is 2, showing us that skateboarding is for all ages. And she’s keeping it stylish on her board with an “upcycled dress” made by her mom.

Thanks Zoe for reporting and organizing this awesome GRO event. More girls skateboard when they see stylish girls skateboarding & get encouragement – Zoe does a rad job at both showing & encouraging!

Please share your stories & pictures.

Lori Weinstein – Photographer

October 8, 2016 Jordan

When I start a series, like this one, I rely on others to help me find girls to write about. Thanks to my friends in NYC (GRO) I found Lori Weinstein or lolonyc as she’s known on IG. She’s a native New Yorker out there shooting with her Nikon S9900 and her iphone6S.

SF: How/when did you start photographing skateboarding? Do you skateboard? If so was it before or after you started shooting skaters?

I have always photographed skateboarding but just for fun. I got my 1st skateboard at age 10 and took photos of friends in my teens. I recently decided to bring my love for skateboarding & photography together because I still have the passion even though I’m not skating anymore.

I love photographing girls because when I skated there were basically no female skaters around me. I was never very good, but had to convince myself to keep going because the guys never did. Today it’s inspiring to see women so prevalent in the skate world. They are wonderful role models and have so much power. Proves that us girls can do anything we set our minds to…and more!

Picture in this post are by Lori taken at the Riverside Skate Jam at the Riverside Skate Park

A bunch of contests for guys & girls of all different ages went down this year there were two girls in the under 40’s vert ramp heat – Jessie Frietze and Ashley O’Gorman. NY Skateboarding.com

above Ashley O’Gorman

SF: What’s your favorite type of shooting – for example street/bowl/vert/long boarding ???

I enjoy photographing all kinds of skating but have a soft spot for bowls & vert.

I shoot wherever I find action. My normal sessions are at Pier 62 skate park or LES under the Manhattan bridge.

above Jessie Frietze

SF: What’s different about shooting skateboarding then other photography?

I’m fortunate enough to live in a city that has many photo ops but skateboard photography to me is on another level. It’s exciting and super emotional. Watching and capturing a skaters frustrations, excitements, and just their sheer love of skating is in a class of its own. You can’t help but get caught up in it.

above Ruth

SF: Where can people see your work?

People can see my works on my website (Loriweinsteinphotography.com) & on Instagram (@lolonyc).

SF: What do you think of all the press girls’ skateboarding is getting? I think all press is good – but I want to be a journalist. And every fashionista has a subscription to Vogue. I was beyond excited when I saw Amelia shoot a prom dress campaign and then the pictures & videos got covered in magazines. And those long board girls in the Red Hot Chili Pepper video – loved it & totally inspired me to keep skating. But is that press bad for competitive female skateboarding?

I don’t think it’s bad publicity for girl skaters to do side projects. I think it depends on the campaign and how they are portrayed (i.e. True skaters vs. bikini clad girls who stand on or hold boards just for ads or videos etc). Press is good in the right light

SF: Did/do you have role models or people/organizations that continue to encourage and support your photography?

My dad is a photographer so he’s always been my #1 inspiration. I’ve always followed J. Grant Brittain, Glen Friedman, Jim Goodrich because of their amazing photographs. GRO (girls riders organization) have always been a positive and just the great support from family & friends

above Chris

SF: Anything you want to share about why girls shooting girls skateboarding benefits the skateboarding sport & builds self-confidence & opportunities for girls.

I think girls shooting girls benefits the skate world in many ways. It shows how strong girls are and can be. The photographers get to document all the progress of these amazing women and puts the message of positivity out there. We are strong and can do whatever we put our minds to!

Processed with Snapseed.

Ashley, Niki, Jessie, Ruth, and Chris

Thanks Lori for sharing your talent and showing the world #girlscanskate!

GirlSkate – Sunday 9/25

September 28, 2016 Jordan 2 Comments

The first GIRLSKATE – Hosted by East River Skate Shop in collaboration with @femmeskate and @girlsridersorg / @gronewyorkcrew was held on Sunday, Sept. 25th in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

They planned for skateboarding, eating, music, and art so of course it was a huge success.

First up some pictures from Femme Skate – Skaters promoting and supporting female skaters

Nice group shot followed by the winners Bombette & Stella

I don’t know what’s in the goody bags, but I heard a special thank you goes to @femmeskate @gronewyorkcrew @rockstarbearings @bigmangaapparel and @codaskateboards for supplying product for the winner and participant goodie bags! I absolutely love to see so many organizations encouraging girls to skateboard.

Stella shared this photo and said it was a great girls skate session & she had fun.

Plus there’s a video by Femme Skate

Melisine Studio Melissa Holtz – photographer inspired by women who love to be active + have fun. NYC ☆ LA ☆ SF shares these action photos

I spy Nina in the blue!

and Yasmeen spies Camibeast

who do you spy?

Now some photos from East River Skate Shop

Above group shots at the park and at the shop. Below my favorite kind of picture

Once at the shop there was music by Witch Slap a Brooklyn Based All-girl skater band featuring Colleen Pelech on guitar, Kabrina Adams on Drums & Lizzi Reid on vocals. And beer thanks to PBR NYC.

And last, but definitely not least there was art by @lily__qian (artwork shown below!) & @_miss.v_ a henna artist.

@lily__qian shares these pieces from the event

I know amazing – to see the details just click on the drawings.

@_miss.v_ shares a henna shot

@_miss.v_ “Who knew henna & skateboards made such a good pair?”

thanks for showing us @_miss.v_

And a huge thanks to East River Skate Shop in collaboration with @femmeskate and @girlsridersorg / @gronewyorkcrew for thinking, organizing, and running this rad event and everyone who shared the event with me so I could write this blog post.

More girls skateboard when they see girls skateboarding and getting encouragement so please keep sharing your stories & pictures.

All Good Deeds Make the World Better

August 18, 2016 Jordan 1 Comment

Love that GRO – Girl Riders Organization took the time to share this rad event. The more people who know about something – the more people who can do something & all good deeds, no matter how small – make the world a better place. Kindness breeds kindness.

It’s easy to take going back to school for granted – there’s new clothes – new backpacks – and of course school supplies. For many that’s not the case – getting back to school & being ready for school is a struggle.

I had the pleasure to help Skater Rising build backpacks for 20 in need on August 13th in Encinitas and I’m thrilled that more people are doing the same all over. Hope many make it out to the House of Vans in Brooklyn on August 18th and even more check out Operation Backpack.

Thanks again GRO – love to hear how people are keeping it stylish on & off the board – hope more share their stories soon!

Skatingfashionista then & now

June 23, 2016 Jordan 1 Comment

A bonus of writing the blog is seeing skatingfashionistas grow – below 3 years ago

and now a recent video

thanks for sharing okbna – if the name isn’t familiar to you it’s because I usually write about him as Skate Yogi.

A friend since the beginning of the blog – Skate Yogi spreads the culture, creativity, and community of skateboarding

more girls skateboard when they see stylish girls skateboarding and get encouragement – really means more people skateboard when they see stylish people skateboarding and get encouragement

The most stylish people in the world are those who share their passions and inspire others to be their best.

XOXO skatingfashionista

gro NYC – Girls Homage Skate Sessions – 2nd Sunday each month

April 10, 2016 Jordan

Happy to add this to the Event List – thanks to gro NYC and kendra.sebelius for organizing & keeping us updated on the success.

Here’s some pictures from one of the sessions – FUN – please share your events, pictures, stories – more girls DO skate as they see girls & we encourage each other!

French Skater Girl living in NYC

January 28, 2016 Jordan 1 Comment

Today we’re celebrating organizations that show the world girls can skateboard. Showing the world is important to me because I believe more girls skateboard when they see stylish girls skateboarding.

One stylish French Skater Girl I’ve been able to see is co2vision real name Corinne Seguin. She’s currently living in New York City.

You can see her on her IG account and the accounts of femmeskate and spacycloud. She actually came with the spacycloud founder, Tati Kolina to EXPOSURE Skate 2015 in November – where spacycloud was a sponsor and offered a collaborative deck.

Femmeskate started as a Raquel Zerbe project to encourage and unite all female skaters by putting together a series of fashion/skate photo shoots.

Today femmeskate continues the adventure by showing females that they are not alone, impacting them to practice, to not be afraid go get out there! Supporting fellow female skaters whether they just like to cruise or learn tricks. As long as they’re trying and enjoy it they deserve support.

femmeskate is always working with others like my friends at gro (girls riders org) because they know empowered girls empower girls and that we all win by working together!

So huge thanks to spacycloud, EXPOSURE skate, femmeskate, and gro for showing girls skateboarding. And thanks Corinne for showing us girls skateboarding is global by taking your skateboard when you moved to NYC and how one girl can work with other girls to be the change they want to see.

Save the Date May 21st for GRO & Zoe in NYC

January 21, 2016 Jordan

Zoe Herishen is a skateboarder who keeps it fun and shares the fun. She may be small – 2nd in hot pink & young 9 – but she’s making giant plans.

Zoe works with GRO Girls Riders Organization – the first nonprofit organization open to all females in skateboarding, snowboarding and other action sports. Lessons learned through GRO help girls not only in action sports, but also in all areas of life empowering them to be leaders of positive change.

GRO operates throughout the United States and Zoe works with the New York City Chapter. Zoe had the idea to have a GRO event at one of her favorite parks – the Brooklyn Bike Park – which is skateboard and longboard friendly.

One of the things I love about doing this blog is seeing all the amazing skateparks around the world. Brooklyn Bike Park doesn’t disappoint and if I had a travel budget I’d so be there on Saturday May 21st. And of course I love seeing girls turn their dreams into reality.

I’m thrilled that Zoe thought to invite me and share the invite on this blog.

I love getting invited to all girls skateboarding events – and an invitation from a 9 year old organizer with a vision and an idea to help bring girls from both skateboarding and long boarding together, and to teach some new girls to ride too – Zoe might be the best invite yet!

I hope this is the first of many annual Chica De Mayo skateboard events. And I hope lots of girls go, have run, and then share there pictures and stories right here – skatingfashionista.com.

Photo: Brooklyn Bike Park Instagram And yes the skatingfashionista believes all types of bikes and all types of skateboards can coexist and grow together – because fun is universal and it’s always stylish to COEXIST!

this event is Free /waiver required – click on the invitation above or here to go to GRO website and find out more

UPDATE 5/20/16

It’s this weekend – be sure to send pictures for sharing and here’s one of Zoe skating in New Jersey – so glad she’ll be in the collage of #girlscanskate USA because she inspires/encourages girls to skate for fun!

Skating Fashionista