Jake Darwen has a remarkable gift. Having only picked up his first camera in 2009, to fill the void after a knee reconstruction, the Kiwi kid is already breaking new ground on what is possible in skateboard photography. Each snap of his shutter comes after a meticulously planned picture is carefully composed in his mind’s eye. I’ve seen Jake work his magic and watched him dart about, climbing up trees, on roofs or laying down in the dirt to find the ultimate angle.

After making the move to Australia in 2012, Jake quickly made himself known to us at Slam. His prolific submissions of gold soon peppered Slam’s pages and by the end of the year he was our newest and youngest senior photographer. Jake’s extraordinary ability to creatively capture the landscape around the subject, utilise strobes or natural light with intricate detail will no doubt see the 20-year-old photography phenomenon rise to prominence – destined to become one of the world’s leading skateboarding photographers.

Trent Fahey

Slam Skateboarding
Editor and Publisher

Christian Low, No Comply, Melbourne, Australia.

Jake Hayes, Bs 180, Manilla, Phillipines.

Paul Battlay, Portrait, Melbourne, Australia.

Paul Battlay, Boneless, Ordos, China.

Corey Leso, Getting drunk, Queenstown, New Zealand.

Jake Duncombe, Kickflip, New Brighton, New Zealand.

Tim Williams, Fs Wallride, Shanghai, China.

Tommy Fynn, Bs Noseblunt, Geelong, Australia.

Gabriel Summers, Fs Nosegrind, Shanghai, China.

Pedro Day, Portrait, Brisbane, Australia.

Matt Miller, Powerslide, Beijing, China.

Tom Snape, Fs Flip, Melbourne, Australia.

John Fitzgerald, Ollie, Shanghai, China.

Colin Evans, Variel Heel, Guangzhou, China.

Brett Band, Wallride, Auckland, New Zealand.

Gabriel Summers, Tail drop, Melbourne, Australia.

Tommy Fynn, Fs Crook, Melbourne, Australia.

Dean Palmer, 360 Flip, Beijing, China.