Part of the recent girls skate photography show, Anywhere Road, Lisa is a respected snapper on the scene. She the perfect example of how creativeness and skate, like her camera, go hand in hand. Here she gives us an insight into her refreshing and inspirational board fuelled/photo capturing life…

Interview by Hannah Bailey, photography by Sarah Meurle

I got into skateboarding around 11 years ago. I was a big fan of punk rock and skate punk at that time, which influenced me to get a board and try and I got hooked. My music taste has changed drastically since then, but my love for skateboarding hasn’t…

When I moved to San Sebastián in 2005, I also started surfing. I always prioritised skateboarding before anything, but I also love surfing and the close relationship to nature and being in the water is an amazing feeling.

I don’t remember the exact first time being on a board. But I remember I got my two best friends into trying as well, and we used to sneak in to the schoolyard at night, practicing ollies. Then after a while I dared to go downtown to the legendary skatepark in Gothenburg called Nya Galaxen (RIP), which became my waterhole until it closed down. There I met the other girls in town who skated, and we called ourselves Team Ninja. We were a weird bunch and even though only a few us keep skating now, most of us still hangout.

The female skate scene is getting bigger and better and also more serious. There are some serious rippers out there nowadays. I like the female scene, especially up in Scandinavia, because there is such a community through out Sweden and Denmark, where everyone knows everyone and there are camps being organised, girl nights in the skateparks, events etc. There are organisations such as No Limit, Crossing Boarders, Wescoast Riders in Gothenburg, Tösabidarna in Skåne etc. I also feel that the girls are getting a more natural space in the skateboard scene, whereas before it was very rare to see a girl skater. I see more girls are starting to hangout and integrate with each other over country borders as well, from Sweden to denmark, norway, spain, france, USA, canada, mexico.

Before it was more the competing girls that travelled around, but now it’s so many more. It’s not about how good you are, but it’s for the love of it and the friendships. Maybe that has to do with globalization as well, that it’s getting easier everyday to travel and thanks to Facebook and such it is well easy to stay connected. It’s awesome!

I grew up close to nature, so a passionate issue for me has always been the environment. When I lived in Barcelona I used to be a part of the Barcelona Surfrider Foundation, which was very interesting and I met a lot of cool people. We had beach cleanup’s, went to schools to inform about the environment and went on trips etc.

I have also always been very compassionate about other people, especially the ones less fortunate. I would like, in the future, to be more involved with social documentary projects with my photography. For example when I went to Mexico earlier this year I did a photography project about a friend of mine who worked as a volunteer with street kids in Mexico City. That was a very interesting experience.

Throughout the years I have probably tried every sport or hobby you can think of. From orienteering, bridge, juggling, harmonica to table tennis, football and dj’ing and everything in between. But as I get super into something, I tend to lose interest quite fast as well. Especially if there are time schedules and pressure, as it often is in sports, for example.

Skateboarding is one of the few things that I never get bored of.

My last photo taken was, if not counting silly phone snaps, my friend Owen almost killing himself whilst doing a 50-50 on a rail going down one of the tube entrances at Old Street in London last week. It was an analog shot so I am still excited to see the outcome!

Interesting people, music and dreams inspire me. I always try to push myself into trying new things, go new roads and questioning my habits. “If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It is lethal” As Paulo Coelho puts it.

I couldn’t live without my family or my friends. Nothing beats the feeling when you realize what amazing people you are surrounded by, and more important, that they are amazing to you. A close second, I would say that music and culture would be extremely boring to be without. Third place goes to my skateboard, as it keeps bringing me awesomeness to my life.

In 30 years, I see myself living a rather simple life, with a life partner, somewhere right next to the ocean, but still close to a city. Where we have a mini-ramp in the backyard, surfing waves in the front of the house and a lot of space for creative activity. My body might not allow me to skate anymore, so I might have to leave that to the kids, and I’d go surfing instead. I’d like to see it as a somewhat self-sufficient place where we grow most of the food in the backyard.

For me, Anywhere Road means your road. It is when you don’t listen to the should’s, do’s and don’ts, but just go wherever life might take you. You do what you feel like, more than listening to other people. It is like having a map you follow, which is blank, but as you move along it keeps drawing itself.