In 2010, an epic book was published called Full Bleed: New York City Skateboard Photography (MTV Press), edited by Alex Corporan, Andre Razo and Ivory Serra, followed up by a 10th Anniversary edition in 2022 with an additional 96 pages. While the skaters were predominantly male (with the exception of the Rookie team and Betty television show crew), it was still evident that women were a big part of the community, although more often behind-the-scenes as photographers in the 80s.
In a previous bio and interview I conducted with NYC skateboarder, Thalia Zelnik she shared that Washington Square Park was the hotspot in the 1980s, attracting many skateboarders. Zelnik said that NYC as a teenager might have been lawless, but “it was an incredible time. We literally did whatever we wanted, any time of day or night.” Stana Weisburd (she/her/they/them) and Jessica Bard were two individuals who documented the action with intention, and they also happened to skate!
Photo: mystery girl skater in NYC by Stana Weisburd
Weisburd was featured in two articles for Jenkem magazine including “Unseen Photos of Skating NYC in the ‘80s” (July 1, 2022) and “The Day Hosoi Ollied the Brooklyn Banks in Photos” (November 11, 2022). In the first feature, there was a bold statement from Eli Morgan Gesner that “In New York City in the 1980s, NO ONE casually filmed. No one shot pictures. Or video. Or if we did, it was rarely. And poorly… It killed the vibe. Period.” But then Eli contradicts himself because it was obvious that SOMEONE was taking photos, but they just happened to be female. When Gesner writes “we” it seems as though he’s referring to an exclusive crew of male skaters.
Photos of Stana, including a tiny one in the background in red at Brooklyn Banks and in the foreground wearing a Skull Skates photos c/o Pepe Torres
Gesner redeems himself by honouring Weisburd. “Stana Weisburd was one of the few local downtown NYC skater chicks back then. She hung out all the time and was known and loved by all the OG downtown skaters for her big personality and hilariously vicious sense of humor. So, she managed the impossible. She casually shot pictures of all of us skating and hanging out back then on her film camera.”
Regarding the Hosoi photos, Gesner wrote, “my childhood friend and legendary OG NYC skater chick, Stana Weisburd, graciously allowed me to scan her collection of amateur skate photos of NYC in the 1980s. In these negatives were rare forgotten photos of an 18-year-old Christian Hosoi skating our beloved Brooklyn Bridge Banks. Hosoi ollied the banks wall that day in front of a small crowd of amazed skaters and on-lookers. Myself included. No pictures of this event have ever been found. Stana, however, hyped off all the excitement that her newly-discovered pictures evoked, went digging through her closed, and found a single roll of lost film negatives.” The Jenkem articles are filtered through Gesner’s voice, and unfortunately there’s no quotes from Weisburd, but perhaps she preferred it that way?
Photo by Jessica Bard that appeared in Full Bleed of “park punks” and their skateboards.
Jessica Bard was also active in the scene and owns a massive photo archive of NYC youth subcultures from 1982-1988. In her online artists’ statement for a show called “Skater Girl” she wrote, “The photos in this show were taken by a kid with a camera. This kid was a girl. The girl was me. I was a skater. I was a girl skater. It was the early 1980’s. It was New York City.” The collection even included some photos of Jessica skating by Simon Benepe.
Photos: Jessica Bard skateboarding – contact sheets are by Simone Benepe, the rest are by Pepe Torres, including one from 1985 of Jessica skating a ramp at Long Island.
In the 1980s, Jessica explained that “Most of my time was spent out on the street. Calling for a pay phone is how one got in touch and made plans to meet-up, otherwise you just knew where to go and hoped your friends would be out or maybe to meet new kids… As a teen, I was naturally attracted to the evolving skateboarding scene, the underground aspect of street art/graffiti and punk/hardcore music. I found it all to be alluring and comfortable. My parents had no idea. Back then, I was in my own world. Having the camera with me all the time (including unlimited film and the means to process and share prints) gave me a pretense for being in any situation (even in the mostly boys-only skateboarding scene.)” The free film and darkroom was because “her Greenwich Village high school, Elisabeth Irwin, required photography classes and provided free film and a darkroom for 4 years.”
Portraits are of Jessica with her skateboard
Jessica acknowledged that she wasn’t a “daredevil skater” but enjoyed the cool factor and how she could compulsively capture her daily life and be in the moment. “I just reveled in each new experience. From just hanging in the park, finding a new skate spot, to watching Kung Fu movies at a stranger’s upper west side apartment, to playing the punk rock groupie in a Lower East Side squat or finding myself on stage at CBGBs in a mosh-free corner to photograph.”
Photos: Pepe Torres with Deva and friend, who thankfully documented some of the girls and women in the scene!
Some of Jessica’s photos feature Pepe “Cochis” Torres, who was known as a 1970s vert ramp and freestyle skater. Fortunately, Pepe also turned his camera on the community at-large, so that we get to see individuals like Jessica and Stana and other girls hanging out including Thalia Zelnik, a punk skater girl named Chryssa Belgard (RIP), Saskia Jewel and two more mysteries being Deva and Sarah, who also appeared to be a NYC photographer.
It’s also cool to note that Ann Zemaitis was in the mix, and she co-owned SOHO Skateboards Etc., which was one of the first skateboard and snowboard stores in Soho back in the 1980s, one of which was on Varick street. Two of the photos below, which include Ann and Pepe were promo for the store.
I’m hopeful that there’s more stories and photos to uncover here! Please reach out if you’re featured in this post or have some more background stories to share.
If interested in New York City skate history, check out this feature on a 1978 mystery skater, the story of Beth Fishman, the 1977 ESA skateboard champion based out of New Jersey, the legendary rollerskater Irene Ching, and the long history of fruit crate skating by NYC children.
Womxn Skateboard History 