The Snowboarder's Journal - frequency 17.1
EASTERN EMBODIMENT: Nathanael Asaro and the Vermont Wilderness
Words: Tomas Ruprecht, Photos and Captions: Nathanael Asaro 2019-09-23 13:53:09
In 2011, when Nathanael Asaro was still a teenager, he started working alongside me at Lunaroma in Burlington, VT. Although 15 years my junior, we instantly connected over the simple pleasure of exploring the Vermont wilderness. Pick any season and the kid from Greensboro was firing on all cylinders, ready to camp, bike, hike, canoe, skate, snowshoe, or snowboard.
Now 27 years old, Nathanael’s only grown more knowledgeable and passionate about the East Coast outdoor lifestyle. A 2016 graduate of Burlington College with a bachelor’s in photography, Nathanael has transformed his outdoor explorations into a full-time career making images for a long list of local and international clients like Bataleon Snowboards, Anon Optics, Nikon, the State of Vermont and beyond. Whether shooting products, landscapes, people, or outdoor pursuits, Nathanael is in touch with what he photographs. And therein lies the secret to his success: He truly lives what he documents. This rings especially true with his snowboard photography. When not focusing his camera on others, he can be found turning heads with his own riding. He’s all in—always.
As far as his photographic style, “I’m always studying the landscape, looking for things that catch my eye,” Nathanael says. “I try to embody the environment I’m in and then combine landscapes or features I find compelling with my subjects. I use my camera as a tool to capture things or moments that give me a feeling. Learning about nature and being in the wilderness will always inspire me.”
While Vermont and its neighboring states have churned out an influential list of professional snowboarders and photographers over the decades, the East Coast has always seemed to ebb and flow within the snowboard scene. The usual path to snow-industry success leads west, but those who stay home make the most of a tight-knit crew and pass along local knowledge to the next generation. Nathanael has chosen to stay put. He’s learned the ins and outs of everything from the Stowe backcountry to building backyard parks through local legends Johnny Noel and Ryan Perryman. Early indoctrinations via the expansive Mount Mansfield backcountry inspire his current pursuit of new angles in New England.
“I’ve thought about moving west many times,” Nathanael says. “It’s the community and quality of life in Vermont that keeps me here though. I think most people that live or have lived here would agree. I love traveling and getting inspired by new places, but I always bring that inspiration back home and it allows me to see the Vermont landscape in a new light.”
Although the backcountry options in the Green Mountain State may be limited—as is the pool of riders looking to explore beyond resort boundaries—few people know and document this core scene as well as Nathanael. Even to the trained East Coast eye, his photos often leave you wondering where he was when he pressed the shutter.
Photo Caption: Sunset on Mount Mansfield—the highest mountain in Vermont—shot from Cambridge, VT. I took this image after riding Mansfield all day on Jan. 13 2017. I decided to drive the long way back to Burlington, where I lived at the time. I could tell the sunset was going to be good based on the late-day light and clouds. I went to one of my favorite viewpoints and set up the camera and tripod and waited for the light to get to its peak point of color and intensity.
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