‘What makes me proud is shooting skate pics with my son, Eliot.’
Ram Legrand
February 2026
What is the skate scene like in Annecy??
Annecy is a small town of around 130,000 inhabitants. The advantages are that it has a beautiful lake and is located at the foot of the Alps and 40km from Geneva. So the population is rather affluent and sports-oriented. There’s always been a good skateboarding scene, which is why I came here. Even if it doesn’t have great spots or a real plaza like HDV in Lyon, there have always been good skaters, several have gone pro. Recently, there have been two DIYs, one built by the young, the other by the old.
Assuming you started off skateboarding at what point did you move to photography??
Yes, I started skateboarding in 1986 or 87, with a little plastic board that a guy at school lent me. At the time, I didn’t know anything about this world, skateparks, pros, brands, contests, videos, magazines, art. Later, I saw an ollie in sequence in a mag, Surface Magazine. I couldn’t believe my eyes! Can you do that with a skateboard? That’s when I wanted to do it! That’s also when I started getting interested in skatemags. I started photography in 2006. So it all started with a sequence of a rotten ollie that made me want to skate and that later made me want to take skate shots.
How did you learn photography?
I taught myself by searching the internet and books. I set my camera to M mode to understand how it works. It wasn’t easy at first, and most of the time I wasn’t satisfied with the results. I tried a lot of different subjects before getting into skate shots.
Is there one skate shot you wish you had taken?
I can’t think of anything, there were so many exceptional photos! But in 2004 or 2005, Ali Boulala was living in Lyon, and I was lucky enough to share several street sessions with him and local skaters. Looking back, they were really fucking great sessions, probably the best of my life! I would have loved to shoot with him, but that was just before I got into photography.
That is shame. Were you there when he tried the 25 Lyon stairs?
C’est la vie! No, I wasn’t there for the 25, I think he’d already tried. I didn’t live in Lyon, I just came to see my girlfriend on the weekends. On Saturday afternoons, I went skateboarding with the motivated guys. We’d meet up at the Foch mini ramp and skate all the spots we saw, Ali was with us a few times.
Any skate photographers that inspire you?
Olivier Chassignole (Cliché Skateboard’s photographer) gave me some advice before I started. I like the way Oliver Barton uses his flashes, the intense light. And I like the way Reece Leung uses his fisheye, he frames very closely without cutting the skater off. I like Clément Le Gall’s work and French Fred’s graphic eye, Fred gave me a few tips too. But when I shoot, I always act according to my own feeling and the skater’s opinion, because you have to adapt to the situation, which is never the same.
‘I was lucky enough to share several street sessions with him.’
Proudest moment as a photographer?
Even more than my very first publication, in my favorite mag of the time, Soma, a French mag that unfortunately no longer exists, or being invited to exhibit my work, what makes me proud is shooting skate pics with my son, Eliot. Of course, I’m very happy every time I see one of my photos printed in a mag.
When was the last time your image was printed in a mag?
Not long ago, Billy Rohan, nollie backside heelflip on a sculpture in Geneva, in the photo issue 2024 of Skate Jawn, the Philly mag that’s now in Brooklyn.
Most embarrassing?
Not to mention a skater getting hurt right in front of you, getting a board on you or in the fish eye, a flash falling out, missing the photo, cops or people cutting you off in the middle of a session, a mag telling you he’ll take the photo but never using it. What bugs me is when a skater drops a photo on Instagram without my consent. The photo is cropped to Insta format. I hate that! And it’s seen, so I can’t propose it to the mags. I know, it’s not a big deal. It’s just a photo, but it still sucks. I understand the excitement of showing off your trick, it’s normal, but I’d rather have the photo in a mag than on Insta. For this reason, I’m wary of giving away photos, but I do it anyway. I prefer to trust. Fortunately, most of the skaters I’ve shot with are patient, and they understand and respect that.
If you could pick a session with any skater in the world, who would it be?
Haha, it’s too hard to pick just one! Many, I’d say all the pro skaters I’ve met who have been approachable and humble. Evan Smith, Tiago, Cardiel, Ishod, Doobie, Cody Lockwood, Maité Steenhoudt, Kareem Campbell, Chet Childress, Ben Krahn, Chris Senn, Tim Brauch. But in reality, what’s really cool is when someone asks me to shoot. Pro skater or not.
Is there any post-production you do? If so, how far do you go?
Yes, of course! I don’t know anyone who doesn’t do postproduction. The D3s sensor delivers rather bland images in RAW quality, which is done on purpose to allow the photographer to interpret his work as he wishes. So I mainly adjust exposure, color and contrast, sometimes I crop slightly, but I always try to do my best when I shoot.
I avoid retouching: if I see any garbage or something that bothers me, I prefer to remove it before shooting rather than waste time deleting it on the computer. No AI for me.
What is on your wishlist?
Well, I want to keep doing what I’m doing for as long as possible because I love what I do. I need to stay fit and healthy because I’m 51 now.
Last question. If you could interview one person?
It’s not easy to ask interesting questions, but I’d like to meet Daewon Song. I think he’s been one of my favorite skaters since the beginning. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped me at one time or another, Jauz, Rico, Greg, Seba, Matt, Al Boglio, Jérémie Daclin, all the skaters we shot with and the buddies I skate with