Interview & Portraits by Robin Pailler | Photography by Ishod Wair
This article was originally published in Volume XVII, February 2026
By now, it seems redundant to write an introduction about Ishod Wair.
The People’s Champ. If you know, you know.
From turning pro for Real Skateboards at 18, to winning Skater of the Year at 21. Pro signature shoe on Nike SB. Even has his name on a Nike Air Max. Simply put, one of the best to ever do it. And still doing it. With all the fun and humility that have defined him ever since he burst onto the Philadelphia scene as a young buck.
But if you know Ishod, you’ll know that whilst he is obsessed with skateboarding and cars (namely BMWs), photography has become his latest passion. While visiting his LA studio, we decided to dive deep into Ishod’s newfound obsession.
How did you first start shooting photos?
I would have disposables with me on trips, and then I would have the Olympus. Little point and shoots. Had the Styluses for a little bit. And then whatever, you know, kind of just shooting around. Because it always interested me, like it always piqued my interest. But I never really locked in. And then finally, with the way my life was going, I just had time. ‘I had time today, cuz’ (laughs). I just started locking in, and was like, ‘wow, this is actually so sick’.
I also really like the real and tangible aspect of film and film photography, and it would bring nostalgic moments back to me, thinking about going to my Grandma’s house and going into the drawer where all the family albums were and being like, Oh, these are past times, this that and the third. Because there’s a really good portion of my life where I had all my photos on Facebook, and then my shit changed over. It just randomly changed over to a fan page, and all the photos are gone. I have none of those photos. And at this time, I didn’t have a computer, so I didn’t have shit backed up anywhere. You know what I mean?
So it’s like, if my phone were to break or anything like that, it wasn’t like my phone was backed up. So there’s a good point from where I’m probably, 15, 16 to 21, where I have no photos. There’s nothing. And I was like, ‘Holy shit’, if that shit happens to me later in life, well, there’s a cloud, and there’s this, that, and the third. And it’s not like I’m a doomsday prepper or some shit. But you can break your fucking computer chip, and everything’s fucking gone. You know what I mean?
So now I have a fireproof filing case, and over the years, I’ll just put all my shit in there, because realistically, that’s really the only way that you can lose it, if it catches fire. It’s not gonna get lost on a data chip. That you then need to try to fucking restore, or try to recover it. And then also, when you have a lot of photos digitally, it’s kind of daunting to look through. You know what I mean? It’s like when you just pull photos, like real life, out of a shoe box or something. It’s way easier to just be like, ‘damn, that was you?’ So it’s like memories. The tangibility of it.
I mean, we’re all gonna get old at one point, and just to pass my memories down, and the cool places that I went to, for the people after me, I think it would be really cool. So there are a lot of aspects. And I’m really into design. I always have been. So that’s why I’m also into the technical aspects of the camera as well. That’s why I’m so nerdy about that shit. Because just like a car, they have their own little things. They’re styled a little bit differently. This one might have a little bit more horsepower. This one’s F-stop is lower. This one has a higher shutter speed. But this one shoots in panoramic mode. Like with any design type thing, cameras are just so intricate and beautiful, and they get the job done. It’s just sick.
You often get real nerdy on the stuff you’re passionate about. Whether it’s skateboarding, cars, or cameras. Do you ever wonder if that’s some form of ADHD?
I mean, I don’t know if I do. Maybe I regulate it better than I used to when I was a kid. But, yeah, there is a thing where I be trying to lock in. Once it’s got me. It’s got me.
You’ve had a career working and touring with so many photographers. Who’s been the most influential?
Zander Taketomo. Literally, I can remember it very vividly. He shot a photo of me doing a nollie flip on some gap in fucking Philly. He has the photo like, for sure. It’s out there. And he had the Hasselblad. I just remember looking down into the viewfinder and it being so 3D, but 2D, and it just being so clear, but foggy. I was just like, ‘bro, that looks so crazy’. I had never been around a camera that was like that until he showed me this thing. And also the orientation being medium format. This boxy thing. If I was to think of a camera, I wouldn’t think of that. I’d think more of an SLR. So that was the first thing that got me curious.
And then I would always just ask questions. I’ll ask little questions always. So then, when I actually locked in. Everything just made so much sense… ‘Oh yeah, this is what the homie was talking about’. And so over time, being around it so much and getting the camera pointed at you so much. You just start to learn things about them, even if you’re not using them. So when I really applied it, everything made so much sense. We’re here now. Getting it.
When did you evolve from point and shoots?
So after the point and shoots, I needed a digital point and shoot to learn how to shoot on it manually, so I know how to work the shutter speed and F-stops, etc. I had a little Lumix that I bought around 2013, and I just had it in a box with a VX and some early GoPros. Around COVID. I was just trying to organise stuff. Moving from my house in Philly to out here. Pulled that thing out of the box and just started shooting with that.
Then I got a little Hasselblad Stellar, which is pretty much a Sony RX100 but with a Hasselblad logo on it, with a little wooden grip. Just a steezy little point and shoot. So I started shooting with that, as well as shooting with my 35mm point and shoots. One day I’m in the fucking camera store, and I see a Nikon F3. I didn’t know anything about the camera. I was just very attracted to the camera. Like, what’s going on with this one? And I find out later that the same person who designed that camera, Giorgetto Giugiaro, designed one of the most iconic Ferraris back in the day. That’s why it has a fucking red racing stripe down the side of the handgrip. So then I was like, ‘Oh, what the fuck, it actually has a little bit of car influence in the design? That’s why I was attracted to it’. It just made so much sense.
Then I started shooting on the F3, and I didn’t have a light meter. But there’s a light meter in the camera. But I didn’t really know how to use it that good. So I would just meter and take test photos with my digital and then set my film camera to the same thing. And then from there, I would just research the camera. How to use it, and then it would lead me to another camera. And then I’d be like, ‘Oh, yeah, let’s try this one out’. People were always like, ‘Oh, you should just stick with one camera. You should stick with one film stock.’ But just like with skating, I’m gonna fucking explore around, you know what I mean? So that’s how I ended up getting all these cameras.
I also think that old cameras should be held onto and cherished. So I hold on to them, and I try to get them fixed, even if they break, because at a point, these things are not really gonna be around. I think film cameras need to be protected.
How’d you get into medium format?
I always like to be well-rounded in anything that I do. Because you can’t really perfect anything. So just like with skating. I can try to perfect skating ledges. Or, I can try to skate everything. And it’s gonna take me longer to learn everything as a whole, but I would be able to skate everything. I’ll be well-rounded in the whole thing. And over time, you’ll see the yield of the practice over the years. You know what I mean?
And I feel kind of like that with photography. At this point. It’s like I could pretty much pick up any camera and know what’s going on with it. In terms of shutter speeds, f-stops, and loading the camera. This, that, and the third.
When did you properly ‘lock-in’?
I mean, there was a point in time when my life was so hectic. Where it was just go, go, go, go, go, go, go. From pretty much when I got on Real (Skateboards) when I was like, 18, through to 2019, I did not stop. I didn’t really get hurt. I didn’t stop. I was traveling straight, trip to trip to trip. You know, I would be on a trip for three weeks a month. Be home for a couple days. Gone. You know me. So for literally 11 years, I was just going, and then, boom, COVID hit. Everybody halted. The blip, everything stopped.
And then it was also like a really big reflecting time to me, because I was like, ‘Dude, holy shit, time flies’. I’m not just going anymore. I’m reflecting. Where are my reflection photos? How do I reflect? Even if you’re walking down the street or whatever, and you take a photo of a piece of shit on the ground, it will literally fucking connect you to memories from earlier in the day, like, ‘oh yeah. That was that day, and I was in New York, and we went to this fucking cool restaurant, and I had a really good time with my friends or something. And even if you don’t have photos of that, it will bring you to that memory. So it helps you piece together your shit.
So I just always need to remember. And like, everybody’s got photography in them. Our whole fucking everything is Instagram, photos, videos. So everybody’s really got it in them. It’s just depending on how deep you want to go into the medium.
Why do you think so many skateboarders are drawn to photography?
I think that, if you really think about it, we live very, very, very unique lives. And when you realise that you’re getting older. The times and the memories that you have that are very fucking special, and we get to experience things and people that are pretty rare. So holding on to these memories is pretty fucking sick. And most skaters are pretty fucking creative. So, going to a different outlet that’s not skating. You can kind of scout a location, a photo location, or this, that, or the third. Your skate eye can translate into the way that you try to capture the world. I feel like it’s just there, and then people just tap into it, and it just works, you know?
That’s another thing with traveling that’s sick. I like to just go and walk around, and just how I’d be looking for spots, you know? I could go out in the morning, and instead of drinking all night or doing whatever, I can chill, research my shit, wake up early in the morning, and go walk around super early. Maybe get a coffee, some breakfast. Digest a city at a slower pace, you know? So it’s like, if I’m just skating down the street, going somewhere. It’s flying by. I’m trying to get to the next spot. But if you’re walking, and you’re like, really looking for a photo, you’re looking at people, you’re literally digesting it in a different, slower pace. And that’s why I kind of like film photography too, because you kind of got to slow down, you know.
Top three skate photographers?
So first, I’d say Zander Taketomo. Grew up skating with him, and I’m pretty sure, for the most part, he shoots mainly film—like the John Shanahan Thrasher cover, where he’s going over the monopoly piece. And then there’s the clock tower, the City Hall building in the back. It’s literally a fucking amazing photo. But he shoots a ton of amazing photos just like that.
I feel like Jake Darwin has a pretty crazy style. He makes shit look fucking so sick. I also really like (Alex) Papke’s photos a lot. He’s very trustworthy. You know if you’re gonna go out with him, you’re gonna get a pretty solid photo.
I see you were shooting with (James) Griffiths in London.
Oh, Griff is sick. Yeah, Griff is actually beast as hell. So for my shoe release, we did a thing in London. His photos were amazing. But that trip was fucked up, because I was in Bologna first, on a Monster Energy trip. There’s an old vert ramp that Lizzie wanted to skate, and we were just randomly out there. And the weather forecast was good before I left. But I get there. And it was raining, and it was cold.
Like when I’m skating, I like to dress completely different from what I wear regularly. I like to be able to completely see my whole foot. I like to wear shorts. At this point. I’ve hit my shin so many times, the nerves are fucked up. It’s not a big deal. I hit my shin. I’m like, ‘Alright, whatever’. But I can completely see my feet, and also my board. I can just, you know what I mean? So it’s like, I like skating shorts. So I was like, ‘Alright, it’s gonna be kind of nice out there. Gonna bring mostly shorts’. I get there, and I only brought like two pairs of pants, that I didn’t even like skating in. So I’m like having to skate these pants every time I show up, and it’s like, look good, feel good. You know me, like, if you feel you’re comfortable, you’re gonna feel good. And it’s like, if I’m wearing these fucking baggy pants that come all the way over the front of my toe, I’m gonna be like, (sigh) you know? I just didn’t pack well for it.
So like, go to Bologna. Cold. Go to London. First day. Cold. And when I do stuff with brands, it’s like, my name. I can’t just go anywhere and just like, go skate. There’s always some event. And it’s like, I’m not really that guy. You know what I mean? It’s just because of what I do. So for the silver bullet launch, we got this BMW. I’m driving this BMW around London, and that’s cool. But it’s a fucking pain in the ass. All the homies are taking the tube, fucking chilling, skating down the street, getting to the park, chilling. I’m like, it’s me, Griff, Scuba (Steve). Getting sick photos. But it’s like, traffic. Gotta find a parking spot at nighttime. I need to get it back, you know what I mean?
And I can’t drink beers with the homies on the session because I’m driving, you know what I mean? And it looked sick. But it had a fucking M40 engine. It was literally a four-cylinder, like, the smallest fucking engine you could possibly get in it. The fucking locks were finicky. So the trunk didn’t lock. So anything that we had in the trunk, I was like, scared my shit was gonna get stolen. It was fucking cold. And it was so obnoxious when I was coming up, I was like, parking on the sidewalk. Just like, pulling up in this beamer and like I said, I wasn’t feeling myself on my board, you know what I mean? So I’m just like, pulling up, and everybody’s just like, looking at me, like, ‘You’re the guy?’ And I’m just like, barely wanting to skate. But you know? You gotta do the shoe thing. It was crazy. But after I see Griff’s photos, I’m like, this is what it’s for. Locking in. You know what I mean?
What about favourite pro skaters who are now photographers?
That’s hard. I mean, Acosta is a fucking fire ass photographer. Yeah, see, that’s what I’m talking about. It’s kind of hard, because there’s so many, like, super goated, you know what I mean? I really like Jerry Hsu, his shit is so sick. He’s also one of my favourite skaters, and he’s just such a nice, down-to-earth person. He’s the man. I haven’t seen that much of Rune Glifberg’s stuff, but he showed me some stuff on this side. He also shoots with the X Pan. And he showed me a lot of black and white stuff. And I was like, ‘Dude, those are like, good shots bro’. Like, I’m vibing with that shit.
Templeton is obviously, like, he shot a wilder time. Now shit’s like, vanilla as fuck. I couldn’t imagine going on a skate trip and people wilding out like I saw in Wires Crossed. I literally don’t see people doing shit like that anymore. Not saying that it’s good or it’s bad, or it’s this or that. It’s just like, bro, everything’s just watered down. Everything’s so fucking PC. Everybody is scared they’re gonna get cancelled. It’s like, come on, man. It’s really not that deep.
How do you feel about AI impacting commercial photography?
I mean capitalism. Everybody wants to make a fucking shit ton of money. So they’re gonna be like, how do we cut corners? That’s how it always goes. And then they’re gonna try to cut corners until they can’t anymore. And then people are gonna be like, ‘Yo, oh, fuck this shit. Fuck this shit. We can’t do that, no.’ And then there’s gonna be backlash. So commercially, there’s gonna be that, I think.
But then artistically, I think there’s always gonna be people who understand it. And there’s gonna be that community that’s like, yes, we get it. This. We’re shooting—there’s always gonna be people that want to fucking cheat. So there’s gonna be people that keep it pure, and there’s gonna be people that are AI-type shit, you know what I mean? That’s probably gonna be something that happens.
Alright, three favourite photographers in general?
I gotta shout out Nazir Wayman. He’s a street photographer out of Philadelphia, and I feel like he just captures the essence of Philadelphia. Philadelphia and skate culture. Black culture. And the culture of the city very well. And he does skate. I remember growing up and going to my local skate park, X Park. Then it was Black Diamond. It was an X Games park before that. But when I was young, I remember seeing him there. But, yeah, he shoots fucking sick shit, but he skates so he can do, like, switch back smiths and shit, like a Bennett grind. You know what I mean? I just always remember as a kid, he just had Bennett grinds on lock. And I was like, I don’t know how the fuck he does that, like, I suck at that trick. This kid can just Bennett grind sick, you know? But, yeah, he really be shooting, and he’s younger than me. But I think that his shit is so sick, and he’s just always been such a nice, genuine person. And I just like, fuck with his aura.
Who else? I don’t know, I’m really bad with fucking names. I wrote some. Because I even have a list of skaters too. Over the years, so many times where people be like, ‘who’s your favourite skater?’ And I’m just like, ‘Urghhhhh’. Because there’s so many sick fucking people that I have a list, and the list is getting fat man! Because there’s a lot of sick skaters and shit’s fucking crazy. Now we have access to it a lot more. You know, back in the day, it was like, Oh, the three videos that came out this year. It’s like, you know. Now it’s like, the three videos that came out the last three hours, there’s like, a new person every day.
Anyway, erm… William Eggleston. I have one of his books, and I just really think that it’s sick that he mapped out his photos like a movie scene… but it really looks like it’s natural. He also popularised colour photography in the art sense. I mean, I didn’t go to art school, but I would hear that before, art photography was always black and white, and he kind of changed the narrative of that, kind of brought it, being like, ‘colour photos can hit’.
This dude, William Klein in New York is also pretty dope. He does street photography stuff, black and white. Pretty cool. A thing that I’m looking forward to with getting older, with street photography, is that the way I’m perceived will be way different once I’m like, an older man? I literally have to dress unassumingly, because it’s like, if I’m pulling up on somebody with fucking, blonde fucking hair and some fucking, speed shade Oakley sunglasses and shit. You know what I mean? I can’t be a fly on the wall. People are looking at me. But it’s like, if I’m some old dude with a camera, you know what I mean? Just like, cooking. I feel like sometimes when I’m shooting street photography shit, it’s like I’m so noticeable. Let’s be honest, like a lot of the time, I look a lot different than the people that are there. They’d be like, ‘this dude’s not from here’, you know? And I’m sitting there, like, blending in with a camera. It’s like, ‘yeah, this guy’s fucking taking photos.’
You’re back skating after a pretty gnarly injury. What happened?
So I got a blood clot in my lower leg from pulling a muscle in my groin in Madrid. So then I was like, fuck alright, I can’t walk. I’ll just be in my hotel room and order room service and fucking watch movies. And I sat in bed for two days because I had two days left for the trip. I can’t move, so I’ll just sit here. And I got a blood clot from just sitting and not moving for so long. I literally had to wear these compression fucking pants every fucking day. Take them off at nighttime, and it was, like, so hard to get on, because I could barely get down to my fucking legs. I was in a wheelchair for a month.
But then, after I was out of the wheelchair, I could walk around and stuff. But it was crazy how much agility I lost. A week after I got back, I went to play basketball with my homie at the gym just to see how un-athletic I was. And like, bro. I’ve never been like the worst person on the court. You know what I mean? I could not, like, be explosive or anything. I couldn’t jump high. It was so crazy. I lost a range of motion in bending down. I couldn’t really compress.
I remember I went to New York late August 2024, and I had just started pushing. I was like, fuck yes, and then I fucking started ollieing over sewer grates. I remember I skated from LES all the way to Uptown, to B&H, just to check it out. Then all the way back down to fucking Tompkins, just so I could get some movement in. And then it didn’t really seem like I couldn’t skate, because I could skate switch. I could like, switch heel, switch laser flip, switch front big spin. This leg wasn’t the blood clot leg.
So it’s like, I can actually skate switch because my right leg doesn’t hurt. So my switch leg might even still be a little bit stronger than my left leg. And then from there I got better way quicker. Now I can skate flatground. Now I’m skating ledges, you know what I mean? But I wasn’t really able to jump down stuff, good, until probably four months ago. I had some fucking weird shit in my ankle, and I didn’t know what it was. But they found a fucking cyst in my fucking ankle, and it was pushing on a nerve, so when I would go into deep compression, it would hit the nerve, and I just couldn’t jump down shit, and I couldn’t switch flip.
And then I got this cortisone shot in my ankle. It fucking shrunk down the cyst and literally, a week after, I could jump down stuff, I could switch flip, I was like, ‘Oh my God. It had nothing to do with the blood clot. After all this rehabbing and my ankle’s like perma-fucking hot pocketed, I don’t fucking get what the fuck is going on?’ and it was this cyst. But now I’m feeling super fucking good, but I’m just chalking it up to the game. I’m just glad I can fucking skate.
Also, my perspective made it to where I don’t get as mad anymore, because I used to explode. I would get pretty mad when I fucking miss two kickflips, and I would just focus a board into a million pieces. Now I’m like, damn, I’m just hyped that I can even skate and be outside with my fucking friends. You know what I mean? Fuck.
What keeps you motivated to continue skating after the career you’ve had? Because it’s still going.
Going, it’s going. I don’t know, skating is fucking fun. Being outside with your friends and the times and the vibes that you get from being out in the streets and skating. It’s also a thing with photography. You go out with your homies and go skate every day, you’re gonna fucking see some crazy shit. It just puts you in the craziest places. Skating, like, you just can’t fucking beat it. And the homies are so sick. Homies are inspiring people. I don’t even know the new generation. You know what I mean? Obviously, there’s good and there’s bad to every side. There are people who are like, yeah. I don’t really like what they’re doing. But there’s always the other side, where you know you’re in good hands.
I’ve never been a hater, you know what I mean? I’ve always been on the side of being like, ‘Dude, fuck yes! Do that shit that is so fucking sick.’ You know what I mean? I feel like that inspires me, and I also understand the progression of what skating with life is. You know what I mean? It’s just like, Yo, I was at the top of skateboarding. I’m not always gonna be the best or whatever. Even like the title, somebody else gave me, you know what I mean? And they’re like, ‘well, you’re not killing it anymore’. Well, I don’t know. I was just doing what I was doing and you guys liked it, and I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing, and if you guys don’t like it. I can’t really do anything about that, you know?
So I’m just gonna do what I like. That’s always what I did. Even getting into skating. People in my town were like, ‘oh? Like skateboard?’ My dad was even like, ‘Why are you skateboarding? You should play basketball.’ It’s like, bro. I don’t give a fuck about what nobody is saying. You know what I mean? I do the shit that I like, and I try to do it to the best of my ability, because that’s just how I am. Like I said, there’s a lot of good, and there’s a lot of bad to look at. A lot of the time, people tend to look at the bad, and they’d be like, ‘This is whack because of this’. Stop paying attention to that shit. You know what I mean?
Like, oh, I don’t like what they’re doing. Yeah? If you don’t like that, stop feeding into the shit that you don’t like. Don’t pay attention to it. Go to the stuff that you enjoy. Be like, that’s cool. I like that stuff over there. You don’t like new skating anymore. Keep watching the old skating to inspire you. You know what I mean? And skating, it’s beautiful. Brought a lot of fucking amazing people into my life. Brought me a lot of knowledge. Brought me (looks around), you know what I mean? Luckily, it brought me to a place where I could provide for my family and myself. I fucking can’t complain. Skating is the dopest fucking thing.
