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Pascal Lieleg aka Official Bowlshit
Pedro Raimundo on Skate Photography, Print’s Timeless Appeal, and the PUSH Skate Festival
The Enduring Magic of Print in Skateboarding: An Interview with Pedro Raimundo
"The kids live in the digital world but are fascinated by printed photos"
He is one of the biggest names in the national skateboarding scene, and for the past 15 years, his magazine has been a kind of guiding light. A daily adventure, driven by passion and layers of accumulated knowledge. In a digital era like ours, he insists that printed photography still holds a unique charm that resonates with people of all ages. Pedro Raimundo, a key figure in Portuguese photography and director of Surge Skate Magazine, will be present at the PUSH Skate Festival.
You're a photographer and publisher. How was the journey to founding Surge Skate Magazine?
- I started skateboarding when I was 10, and since I was a kid, I consumed a lot of information through magazines. When I was 18, I started getting injured a lot, spending most of my time sidelined with sprains. My father brought me a camera from Germany, and I started experimenting with it. One day, I went to an event where some guys from Almada saw me with the camera and asked if I could send them some photos. I did, but months passed without hearing back from them. Then, one day, I received an envelope at home with a magazine inside, and there was one of my photos published. It was an incredible feeling. From that moment on, I never stopped. In the summer, we would go to competitions with friends, travel on interrail, great memories. In 2010, I founded Surge. It was initially supposed to be published by the Impresa group, but they took a long time to respond. Eventually, one of their executives asked us, ‘If you already have everything, why do you need us?’ That question stuck with us. So, one day, we decided to negotiate directly with the printing company and started printing the magazine, paying out of our own pockets. Fifteen years later, we are still publishing it.
Does print still have its appeal?
- Photo and video have complemented each other in recent years, but it's funny: despite the digital world we live in, kids are fascinated by printed photos when they see themselves in the magazine. We are based in Benedita, where we have an indoor skatepark and hold photography workshops. That's where we see the excitement from both kids and parents, who are now starting to buy Polaroid cameras, a recent trend. As for me, I only shoot skateboarding, surfing, and documentary photography. I don’t even have a single personal vacation photo at home! [laughs].
What can you tell us about the PUSH Skate Festival?
- It's great; it's already making an impact on the community. Many kids in the city have had the opportunity to take lessons, visit the exhibition at Mercado de Sant’Ana, and we hope this weekend will bring the national skateboarding scene together. It's crucial to have an institution like the Leiria City Council believe in this initiative and give skateboarding the space it deserves. Surge has tried to do something similar in the past, though not on this scale. I’m really happy to see this initiative from Trucks and Fins and No Comply.
Visit Surge Skate Magazine on Instagram
