Heroes

ARTIST STATEMENT

Women riders have always been teenage heroes to me, independent and bad-ass girls, skating, surfing, snowboarding. Despite this, in the twelve years that I have been a snowboard photographer, I have barely shot any proper epic photos of women. I didn’t try hard enough. Back then girls were generally considered good for lifestyles and catalogues and boys for action ads. This, thankfully, is now changing. However, in the art of snowboard photography, there is still a lack of global photo work on women. I needed to make this project happen to partly fill this void, and to capture and illustrate the culture and progression of women in snowboarding.

I spent most of the 2019 and 2020 winters travelling to just a fraction of the numerous dedicated female snowboarders, documenting their lives in the streets, the backcountry and the snowparks. The more I shot and listened to their stories, the more I realised how vivid their love for snowboarding is, and how important this is. I am ever thankful to the riders who have welcomed me into their homes, and into the intimacy of their sessions. These colourful encounters opened my eyes and revived my own personal flame.

The photos are taken with the Pentax 6x7 medium format film camera, in black and white. In the central body of work, I etch, scratch and paint onto the precious negatives before making gelatin silver prints in the darkroom with an obscure process called lith printing. In the hope of creating timeless icons, I etched their words onto their photos.

As much as it is mine, this book also belongs to them. Alongside my photographs, they have filled these pages with their stories and works of art. This book is a declaration of love, a physical testament to women in snowboarding, to their their unique talent and total dedication.

Jérôme Tanon

Heroes: Women in Snowboarding is the product of two years’ work by photographer Jérôme Tanon, following some of the most dedicated female snowboarders around the world. It is a declaration of love, highlighting the culture, passion and dedication of female snowboarders. Though women’s snowboarding has developed radically over the last decade, few photographers celebrate the champions of the sport.

Over two winter seasons, Tanon travelled the world to meet women snowboarders, hear their stories and photograph them in the streets, the parks and the backcountry. The sheer passion they put into their sport was instantly obvious. Shared here alongside Tanon’s evocative photographs, are personal stories and artworks by the snowboarders themselves.

ISBN: 978-1-78884-143-6

£40.00/$50.00