As part of the Walker’s long tradition of doing visiting artists’ portraits, Ty was brought down to the photo studio for his portrait. I wanted to do something slightly different by having Ty cut a simple hole in the background paper and place his head through.

As soon as I told Ty my idea, his eyes lit up and he was totally into it. He began cutting slowly and we talked a bit about some ideas, but nothing was really working. Then as soon as he got his head through, he said this is a lot like the the Ripper graphic from Powell-Peralta skateboards. Not being a skater, it took me awhile to recall the image.  Little did I know that Ty skated professionally for Powell-Peralta. This was the moment where my idea morphed into a collaboration.

At the end of the shoot, we decided Ty should break through the paper. Immediately, he began swinging his crutches upwards and outwards, sending paper chunks all over the studio.

This was probably one of the more fun portraits and certainly the most destructive one to date. Thanks Ty.

at the end of the shoot, Ty: 1, Background Paper: 0