‘‘We want the mag to be a place where everybody is nobody.’
Luke McKaye
Nobody
USA
What trigged the idea to start Nobody?
It really came down to the perceived need for another outlet. There are only so many slots, and the supply of high quality photos significantly outweighs the demand, there are only so many pages in any issue. I’m a mid-level ish photographer (at best) and I’ve worked with a lot of different magazines. I’ve been incredibly fortunate to have probably more than my fair share of photos ran in different outlets, I enjoy working with all of them and plan to continue to work with all of them. But I found myself with close to 80 photos left from the last year that didn’t have a home. A lot of times I’ll shoot with the same person quite a bit to put together a collection for an interview, let’s say I shoot 12 photos and the mags that take the interview only needed 5. I’m left with 7 photos now that either just get posted to IG or never see the light of day. I’ve been blessed to make a lot of connections with other photographers from all around the world over the years, and when I reached out to some of them to see if they were sitting on unused photos as well I started discover just how much quality content is sitting out there without a home. Within a week a realized there was a whole issue just sitting there waiting to be assembled. Right now there are about 8 photographers involved and I feel really good about the collective. The first issue really went from inception to completion in about 7 weeks. I had a friend Kenai who is pretty fluent with Adobe InDesign who did a lot of the heavy lifting with layout and titles for the first issue.
What are some of the other outlets you have been shooting for?
I work all the same circuits as other photographers. Thrasher whenever I can, it’s hard to get more than one photo in any issue, they don’t have that many open slots for non staff photographers but I’m extremely grateful for the few pages I’ve been able to put my name on. LowCard and Skatejawn have been huge for me, I’ve been giving Skatejawn photos and interviews for like 15 years. I just recently had some stuff in the last Downward. Cemental has been very kind to me. Absurde out of France. And there’s always instagram for things that don’t have a home. Whatever gets out there, at the end of the day I just love the process and it’s fun to share the results with the world.
Any special meaning behind the name ‘Nobody?
We want it to be a very friendly, welcoming, unassuming outlet for all things skateboarding. Everybody is Nobody. The first issue has quite a few pro’s and well know names, but also plenty of rippers from obscure parts of the country that have little to no recognition. Photographers who have shot Transworld covers and photographer’s who are just starting to figure out their style. We want the mag to be a place where everybody is nobody, and everyone is someone. Or something like that (laughing).
Tell me something about yourself?
I’ll try to answer this without writing a book, no promises. I’m 43, I’ve gone down a lot of roads, wore a lot of hats, Forest Gumped my way through life somewhat successfully. Born and raised in West Virginia, spent most of my life from 26 to now in either Southern California or North Carolina. Been skateboarding since 1993 when I was 12 years old. Blessed to grow up around a really solid crew of mostly older skateboarders. I was a hard partier and dealer in my teens and early 20s, got straightened out by 23. Managed the family auto upholstery business for a few years. I have a degree in Finance and I worked from a brokerage firm, I’m still a licensed financial advisor to this day but I’m not actively practicing. I ran a small clothing company called M1 for a couple years that had a solid team and handful of great selling designs. I started a website called CarlinaSkateboarding.com in 2010 that (long story) started the interest in photography. Moved to Long Beach with John Hill in 2012 to pursue the dream. Shot photos more/less professionally for 2 years and then (another long story) transitioned into a role as Project Manager for a construction company and basically spent my entire 30s climbing the ladder and not being too involved in skateboarding. At 41 I took a voluntary layoff and spent a few months travelling the world and making up for lost time (yet another long story). My plan was to go right back to Project Management after travelling but after some heavy soul searching I decided to get back into skateboarding photography after realizing that the years I’d spent in that capacity were the most fulfilling and there’s never been anything that lights me up quite the same.
‘I started discover just how much quality content is sitting out there without a home.’
Has a former lover dropped off your kid that you did not know existed? Do you make a living off skateboard photography alone or do you have to do other gigs?
(Laughing) No kiddos that I’m aware of. There’s not living to be made from skate photos alone, at least not for me. I shoot weddings and have done some house flips, various other investments. I get checks every now and then for photos but it’s rare. Ads pay and Thrasher pays, that’s pretty much it for me. And even when they do pay it definitely costs more money to be out in the streets driving all over the place shooting than the income from the photo. I hope other photographers are doing better financially from it, my experience has always been that I better be doing it for the love of the game, because the paychecks are small or nonexistent.
Are there any other skatemags that inspire you?
All of them to be honest. We’re not reinventing the wheel here, and this could never be done without so many amazing examples to model after. If I had to pick one in particular I’d say Slap. Slap always seemed fun and simple.
How is Nobody different to the other skatemags?
We aim to cover things that aren’t getting covered. For example Barcelona gets a ton of recognition as a skate Mecca, but you don’t hear all that much from Madrid. We were excited to do a feature on Madrid with some of the guys from Welcome Skateshop. David Odom has gotten a lot of recognition for being “the backflip guy”. We do a long interview with him so people can learn more beyond just the viral clip.
‘Barcelona gets a ton of recognition as a skate Mecca, but you don’t hear all that much from Madrid.’
Proudest moment so far?
Me personally in general? That’s hard to say. Probably the most impressive thing I’ve ever done is manage a $120 million dollar construction project in Burbank California that won a state award for “Best Mixed Use” in the 2019 Gold Nugget Awards. I really can’t dial in any one moment that I’m most proud of. I filmed a full length skateboarding video in West Virginia in 2008 and when that started playing on the big screen with all my homies surrounding me that was a surreal proud moment for me.
Did you sneak in a couple of skateboard obstacles in the Burbank project to be granted the “Best Mixed Use” award?
(Laughing) I wish, but I was involved in a meeting where they discussed skate stopper locations. I didn’t say much, it was really odd where they chose to put them and where to leave them off. You can tell they don’t have many actual skateboarders involved in that process.
Most funny or embarrassing story?
I’ve made so many blunders I don’t know where to start. Sometimes you have to run out of bad ideas before you can find the good ones.
Last question. If you could interview one person?
Maybe mid 90s Tom Penny. In the skateboarding world that’s really the only person I’ve ever idolized, and that faded by the time I was like 16. I did actually do an interview with Tony Hawk once for the Carolina Skateboarding website in 2009. I butchered the interview, but he was super humble, friendly, and open to talk about anything.
‘Forest Gumped my way through life somewhat successfully.’