Round Trip: A Conversation with Michael Cukr

Skate rat to What Youth to MoMa and the Smithsonian to the pages of Vogue and back again

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His mediums are many —  photographer, filmmaker, editor, skater, director, surfer…bodysurfer. He’s preternaturally gifted at all of them. But the true beauty to Michael Cukr’s talent is how he accentuates it with an obsessive attention to detail about his craft. Whether that’s photographing a supermodel or bodysurfing Wedge — it just depends on the day.

I have worked with Michael for more than a decade. He was the rare anomaly: friend, co-worker, serious road dog with an eye for story and an eye for the shot. When he was younger, I sent him deep into the South to shoot guns. He thrived. I have sent him to hang with Daryl “Flea” Virostko in Santa Cruz … alone. Thrived once again. Sent him hunting in Maui. He came back covered in camouflage, Coors Light and deer blood. He is welcome at the Volcom house on the North Shore, and one time he tipped over while filming an interview with ‘80s Pipeline kingpin Liam McNamara. His first version of Final Cut was from the late Greg Browning when he was 10. I have sent him to countless countries to document varied subjects and felt good about how he’d fare every time. He’s never said no to me and always came home with iconic and everlasting imagery every single time. Check his website for proof of that.