Native Californian skater, surfer and photographer

HER WRITING IS AS RAW AS HER PERSONALITY; THIS LADY CAN CAPTURE CHARACTER ON CAMERA BETTER THAN ANYONE IN TOWN. STOCKER RUNS FULL FORCE AT WHATEVER INTIMIDATES HER AND COMPLETELY CONQUERS.
SHE ROLLS WITH THE BOYS AND IS PRACTICALLY TOUGHER THAN THE LOT OF THEM, SURFS WITH SHARKS AND IN THE END HAS A SMILE AND A LAUGH THAT MELTS THE HEARTS OF OLD MEN. THIS GIRL ROCKS.

I'VE KNOWN LAUREN FOR YEARS NOW. SHE'S LOVELY. SHE'S TOUGH. AND SHE'S TERRIBLY INSPIRING. SHE IS ONE OF MY BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS AND MY CLOSEST FRIENDS. I LOVE YOU LAUREN.
-LR

ARTIST INTERVIEW: LAUREN STOCKER + PHOTOGRAPHER | Interview by London Red

TIME OF DAY: 7:12pm

WHERE ARE YOU:

“San Francisco, California”

LIFE PHILOSOPHY:
"Whatever you’re afraid of matters. Run at it. Be aware of what you speak. What you say, is what becomes."

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:
"Iggy Pop “Gimme Danger”, The Avengers “Money” Otis Redding “Remember Me”

FAVORITE MUSICIANS:
"Karen Dalton, Motorhead, Andre Nikatina, Gillian Welsh, Rocky Erickson, Eric Burdon & The Animals"

YOU SKATE AND SURF:
"Have board will travel"

STYLE OF PHOTOGRAPHY:
"Raw"

WHERE WERE YOU BORN:
"Greenwich, Connecticut"

WHERE ARE YOUR ANCESTORS FROM:
"Ireland, England, Germany, Switzerland"

DID YOUR FAMILY INFLUENCE YOUR ARTISTIC LIFESTYLE AT ALL:
"Both parents always encouraged it. I was blessed. My grandma owned and ran an art store in Greenwich. It’s a family understood thing."

DID YOUR FAMILY INFLUENCE YOUR ARTISTIC LIFESTYLE AT ALL?

“Both parents always encouraged it. I was blessed. My grandma owned and ran an art store in Greenwich. It’s a family understood thing. “

WHERE DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL?

Brooks Institute of Photography

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR BEST SANTA BARBARA MEMORIES?

“Surfing purple Mesa Lane, Wilderness Bowl, The Mountain Shack .”

THE BEST THING YOU GOT OUT OF BROOKS:

“Amazingly talented friends.”

YOU'RE A NATURE LOVER, DOES THAT AFFECT YOUR STYLE IN PHOTOGRAPHY:
"Keeping things as raw and simple as possible is important to me."

HOW HAS TRAVEL OPENED YOUR EYES:
"Just confirms the beauty of all things unplanned."

STYLE OF PHOTOGRAPHY:

“Raw.”

YOUR CLOTHING STYLE:

“Boyish.”

WHO YOU ARE AS A PERSON:

“A Bambi.”

NICKNAMES OTHERS HAVE FOR YOU:

“Lor Lor, Thor Lor, Gloren, Lorena, Tammy Tesla.”

YOU HAVE A GRAVITATIONAL PULL SURROUNDING YOURSELF THAT OTHERS ARE DRAWN TO; WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS:
"Curiosity can be charming."

WHAT IS ONE THING YOU THINK IS AMAZING ABOUT WHO YOU ARE:
"Often times I try not to think about what I am doing (which can be bad) and most the time that gets me doing things I otherwise would be to afraid try."

TELL ME ABOUT AFRICA:

“I’m coming.” 100 foot waterfall, coasting car, 1940’s hospital where questions are not welcome, a walking overpass the size of LA river with trash and piss filled to the brim with a Ghanaian man shitting off the side 50 feet above the mess. Besides that it’s gorgeous. Ada Foah, New Years. Winfred will take care of you. Tro-Tro’s; public taxis are the cab of trucks filled with 14 people and mates pissing off the roof, lots of pissing.”

TELL ME ABOUT EARTH SHIPS, YOU HELPED BUILD ONE:

“Rad homes I ran into building in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. They sound like dirt huts made out of garbage and tires but they extraordinary self-sustainable homes. You catch rain water on your roof, it is stored in underground cisterns, you wash your dishes with it, your body, then the water is directed to your indoor green house, that water is then filtered through the plant bed into your toilet bowl. So by the time you piss in your toilet, the same water is on its third round of use. “We drink our liquor and then we build out houses out of it.”

YOU’VE BEEN TO CENTRAL AMERICA: DESCRIBE WHAT YOU SEE WHEN YOU’RE WALKING AROUND THE STREETS:

“Children playing the way they were meant to; in trees, drawing, jumping in creeks, ocean, playing baseball in their front yards, stealing local fruit, too many gringo surfers, myself included.”

YOUR DREAM AS A PERSON:

“Keep going full speed with my friends who know how to charge.”

YOUR DREAM AS A PHOTOGRAPHER:

“Document people that I love and interest me until I die.”

SCARIEST PLACE YOU HAVE EVER SURFED:

“Jilama on a huge day, Four Mile (when I was too young and inexperienced to be there).”

WHAT DO YOU SHOOT WITH:

“500C Hasselblad”

YOU HAVE SHOT QUITE A BIT FOR MAGAZINES, WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SHOOT:

“Liked shooting Koby Abberton with Hassy Polaroids while he was bitching about his chick wrecking his car and how he loved her/Rande Gerber because I shot it with 3 rolls of film all natural light inside/Norton Wisdom because he is a crazy brained artist lunatic who was the first to get arrested for painting on the Berlin wall.”

DO YOU HAVE FUTURE TRIPS PLANNED:

“Austin next week, drive to Idaho and Montana this summer with my buddy Jake, skate and camp, possibly all the way to the east coast, Philly, and Boston. Also going for a motorcycle/skate/river/camping trip to Canada. We will see you, never know. Hoping it happens.”

HOW MANY KEYS ON YOUR KEY CHAIN:

“9”

WOULD YOU RATHER BE UP AT TAHOE OR SURFING THE COAST:

“Surfing the coast only because it is cheaper. Kind of abandoned the snow because of the cost.”

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN A SKATER:

“I don’t like calling myself a skater. I’ve rolled around since I was 15.”

DESCRIBE A TYPICAL LAUREN DAY [THESE ARE ONE OF A KIND]:
"Lately, 6 am pick up two coffees and a friend. Surf, rain or shine, or Sahara desert storm, those happen out here. Done with a surf and breakfast by 9:30am (I am really not always this motivated). Deal with some film. Work, see a friend, explore, skate till lights go off, and hopefully not go to the bar."

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART ABOUT SF:

“Having everything I need and want in a ten-block radius. Being able to skate to work, grocery, park, friends, bar.”

HAVE YOU EVER SEEN A SHARK WHILE SURFING:

“Yes, Jilama. Far outside, where I sit because I am pansy and I hate being caught inside when big sets roll through, especially there. All by my lonesome, felt a weird heavy current under my toes, looking down and saw a huge white mass swim slowly under me. Swam back to my buddies as fast as possible. It’s near Point Conception which is pretty sharky. Seal had a shark bite out of it the other day and got pulled out by the ranger when my friend and I were surfing Rockaway. By the way, I am really not good, I just go a lot.”

WORD PLAY:

STANDING ALONG A CLIFF:

“Marion at 5am Pacifica.”

LIFE PHILOSOPHY

“Whatever you’re afraid of matters. Run at it. Be aware of what you speak. What you say, is what becomes.”

IN THE MIDST OF THE OCEAN:

“Magic land, orange glow, and rainbows. Gay I know.”

ON A WHITE DAY:

“My bedroom and a nap.”

THE GREY STREETS:

“February and San Francisco.”

STANDING IN THE RED DUST OF A DESERT:

“Taos, New Mexico at Seth’s spot”

THE YELLOW LIGHT THAT SCREAMS:

“Magic Land, skating towards the sun on 16th today”

HE LOOKED UP:

“My man”

THE SOUND THAT MADE HER STOP:

“Old friend’s voice she hasn’t seen in years”

AN EVER-CHANGING FACIAL EXPRESSION:

“What people with the forever worried look on their face should adopt.”

WHAT IF TODAY WAS YOUR LAST:

“I’d say thank you Lord for the days you’ve given me, and what time is it going down, see what I can fit in before then.”

AN ITEM YOU CHERISH ABOVE MOST:

“Right now, Hassy, Skate, Journals, Negs and old photos. It is what I would be most bummed about if I lost them in a fire. Mostly things that are irreplaceable. Old thoughts and images that are documented.”

WHAT HOLDS YOU TOGETHER WHEN ALL ELSE CRUMBLES APART:

“God. People who believe in me when I do not believe in myself.”

YOUR FAVORITE SOUND IS:

“Scarping coping, old camera shutters, and woman with beautiful but not boastful voices.”

WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION:

“People that try, people that are beautiful that don’t know it.”

FAVORITE COFFEE SHOP/ HANGOUT SPOT:

“I like Dynamo or Atlas real early in the morning.”

PET PEEVE:

“People eating like horses and those damn people with permently worried looks on their faces.”

FAVORITE THING TO DO ON A SUNNY DAY:

“Surf, skate, build, roam, wear and dress and feel like an 8 year playing in my neighborhood with dirt on my face.”

RAINY AFTERNOON PASTIME:

“Doing all the shit I should have taken care of while it was sunny. Read or be lazy in my bed, movie.”

INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT:

“I know it’s lame, but both. Anyone who knows me would say extrovert but I turn into a hermit and hold back in huge social settings, I like entertaining. I’d rather observe with an invisible cloak.”

ARTISTS YOU ADMIRE:

“Sally Mann, Ari Marcolopolous, Jaime Brisick, Tobin Yelland, Hunter S Thompson (photos just as rad as his writing)”

SOMETHING YOU STILL DREAM ABOUT DOING:

“Moving to Argentina for a while. Showing up in Ireland with no where to go. Help Michellee build at the Favela, Rio de Janiero.”

WHERE WILL YOU BE IN 5 YEARS:

“Home base SF, where I’ll be questionable.”

HOW DO YOU FEEL WHEN YOU’RE OUT ON YOUR BOARD, FLOATING IN THE OCEAN ON A SUMMER DAY, WAITING FOR A WAVE:

“Like I am being healed, and learning patience.”

HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HUGE WIPEOUT WHILE SURFING:

“The ocean has definitely beats the shit out of me from time to time. It beats you and suffocates you at the same time.”

DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF MORE AT HOME WITH THE GUYS OR THE GIRLS:

“Not even a question, dudes. Sometimes I wish it wasn’t that way. But there is no way around it. The chemistry of two many females in a small setting is too intense for me or honestly boring. I like hanging out with girls one on one. Guys have a way of pushing me to grow without even trying and I am always drawn to that. And it is more acceptable to be ridiculous with guys as long as they ain’t trying to jump your bones, they are more “balls to the wall” and I need that.“

A FREE SPIRIT:

“Hope I never give in to letting that go.”

WOULD YOU EVER LIKE TO DROP EVERYTHING AND JUST DISAPPEAR?

“Everyday.”

IF YOU RAN AWAY WHERE IS THE FIRST PLACE YOU’D WANT TO GO:

“Can’t tell you.”

FAVORITE FOOD:

“Tacos/Tamales/Sushi”

SEASON THAT MAKES YOU THE HAPPIEST:

“Spring/Summer no doubt.”

DO YOU LIKE GOING TO SHOWS:

“Depends which ones, but definitely, into ones at the Brookdale Lodge for sure.”

BRAND OF CLOTHING YOU LIKE:

“Trying to get more plain by the day.”

COLORS THAT MAKE YOU SAY AHHHH:

“Sunshine yellow, canary orange, and see through turquoise.”

WHAT IS YOUR SUMMERTIME APPAREL:

short dress and vans

WHAT BOARD DO YOU SURF WITH:

6’2 girthy thruster

TELL ME ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO ADD ABOUT WHO YOU ARE, AS AN ARTIST, AS A PERSON, ANY RANDOM FUNNY QUOTES, ETC:

“I’d like to believe I am strong, and honest. The point is trying to get away with whatever you can. Art is trickery. Everyone hates it when I say that. I never want to be old and bitter. I want to be old and stoked for the young ones and be able to whole-heartedly feel that I lived mine, let them have theirs. Asking a bunch of old acid eaten skate rats in a backyard pool in Orange if what was playing on the stereo was Tesla, it was ACDC. I had defiled them. Watching their genuinely appalled looks was pretty hysterical. “They don’t teach this shit in prep school.” One of them said.”