Nicholas Wolken, Laax, Switzerland. In the true Korua style of shooting, a lot of moments happen on the go and include a good portion of luck. This frame is no exception. On our way from mid-station to the peak looking for powder, Nicholas and I happened upon some interesting lighting while chasing each other to the next chairlift. A good reminder to always keep the camera out and the fingers ready to catch those lucky in-between moments on the way to actually go do the thing. Words Nick Bridge Photos and Captions Aaron Schwartz o spend time appreciating Aaron Schwartz’s photogra-phy is to really know the stoke of the turn, the intense beauty of mountains and the vitality of friendships. His photography is a glimpse into a world of purity, creativ-ity and love. He captures what it means to be a snowboarder. T Aaron’s universe of high-contrast, often black-and-white imagery transports viewers instantly to the hill, the top of the pipe or deep within the woods. His photos are diversified as they are palpable: the crispy perfection of freshly cut corduroy, the soft silence of snow accumulation on overloaded branches, tracks in deep pow-der representing two friends’ best day ever, the harsh beauty of daunting yet familiar mountains, or just plain old hanging out on the hill. That’s why Aaron’s photos make people want to go riding. His career (I can see him cringe at that term) has been a con-scious ascent from one strength to another, from humble teenage beginnings photographing punk shows and drawing band typog-raphy in Vancouver, BC, to his current role as Creative Director at Korua Shapes with an extensive list of accomplishments and proj-ects. Although Aaron’s deep humility and countless black t-shirts re-main in spades, humor me as I paint a picture of but a few of Aaron’s accolades: He oversees every visual aspect of the ever aesthetically appealing Korua Shapes and is co-founder of the Tidal Art Show in Laax, Switzerland, which brings together some of the snowboarding community’s most esteemed artists including Jamie Lynn, Bryan Iguchi, Hannah Eddy, Sarah King and Schoph. Aaron has exhib-ited both art and photography across Switzerland, along with hav-ing his work regularly published in the likes of Whiteout , Pleasure , TransWorld Snowboarding and The Snowboarder’s Journal . Backtracking to Aaron’s figurative magic carpet days, he was 086 THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL
The Snowboarder's Journal The Snowboarder's Journal 22.1: Page 86
