Mariah Duran
I grew up watching the X-Games, and got into photography looking at the photos in BMX magazines, so it was a bit of a return full circle this summer when I photographed skateboarder Mariah Duran for Ozy.
Meeting Mariah just after she arrived at her Minneapolis hotel, I had a little over an hour to capture a full mix of portraits, action photos, and video clips for website loops. Knowing I would be shooting in the midday sun, I had scouted locations that would be filled with diffused, bounced light, or where the hard shadows could turn into crisp graphic elements. It was fortunate that there is a small skate park in the corner of downtown Minneapolis. While not exactly competition quality, Mariah was happy to stretch her legs and get some time on her board after a morning of travel, nailing some serious tricks for our shoot.
Just two days after our shoot, Mariah clinched the gold medal in the X-Games Skateboard Street finals.



