Meet Wozer, the New Zealand collective making skateboarding more accessible

The group thrived in this town of about 200,000, known for its abundance of native birds, must-visit cafes and notoriously strong winds. It’s also a great place to try an ollie or a trick on a ramp. Becki Moss, a New Zealand-based photographer and artist, followed the Wozer collective for two years, capturing their lives, athleticism, and creativity.

The first Wozer meeting was organized in June 2022 by a group of friends who loved the sport, an effort to take their group chat offline and into the real world. Two years later, the collective published two print magazines and became an increasingly visible force on the scene, leading workshops at festivals and collaborating with clothing brands including Converse.

The idea is to show skateboarders who feel excluded from spaces dominated by cis men that there is a hub for them too. As the group writes in their 2022 zine: “Skateboarding is infamous for its community. When you find a community of skaters you love, you instantly become part of a family. Unfortunately, in the midst of a battle of male egos, there wasn’t much room for us in our own local skateboarding communities. »

Clare Milne is a 23-year-old visual communications design student who moved from Gisborne to Wellington to study. She created the first version of Wozer magazine in May 2022 for a school assignment. Five months later, thanks to sponsorship from Kingsbeer Architecture, the first issue was officially released on the same weekend as Bowlzilla, a national skateboarding championship.

“It’s given a lot of people confidence in who they are,” Milne said. “Just meeting like-minded people has really made me feel good about myself. I think the reason I’m so passionate about it is because I’ve seen how these people have impacted my life.”

While the city-run Waitangi skate park offers impressive bowls and ramps, Milne said enthusiasts may wish to venture out of the central business district and climb a hill behind the Waitangi Municipal Hospital. Wellington. There you will find “Hospital DIY” — a skate park created by the skate community over the years. They include community members who are committed to reinvigorating the area by designing structured skating experiences in community spaces.

Here, Gala Baumfield, 22, points to the spot where her mother Pearl’s handprint is etched into the concrete. Their hands are the same size. Pearl died in April 2023 after battling lung cancer. The Wozer community supported Baumfield as a young caregiver and after her mother’s death, she continued to be her found family, they said.

Baumfield is a testament to Wozer’s passion and dedication. They have been skateboarding since they could walk and are now recognized as one of the best skateboarders in the country. It’s common to see them teaching new moves to their fellow Wozers at the skatepark. Other members of the Wozer collective include an arborist, photographers, DJs, a pilot in training, tattoo artists, students, youth workers and many others.

Tessa Hill, 21, has been a founding member of Wozer since its inception. Today, she works full-time as a DJ, having been thrust into the role of opening act for British electronic artist Fred Again. She has been skating since 2018, and founded Surely Skate alongside her sister Sophee Hill and friend Georgia Richardson. In their hometown of Gisborne, they noticed “more and more skater girls were coming to skate with us,” Hill said.

Wozer continues to grow. Initially, the group identified itself as a hub for women and gender minorities, but it has since expanded to include cis men. Baumfield says this was because “it seemed really exclusive to a lot of trans whanau” – a Māori term for extended family or community – “especially if you’re not open about being trans and you don’t don’t really want to broadcast it. to the whole world. »

Regardless, it’s a work in progress. Wozer member Camden Jackson, 21, grew up in South Auckland before moving to Wellington in 2022. A photographer and filmmaker, Baumfield is working with 22-year-old director Molly Doyle on a documentary about Hill’s DJ career. “There’s so much creativity around skating. Photography, fashion, music, graphic design. … Maybe the intersection of all of those practices is learning that failure is part of the process,” Camden says. “Skating is that, over and over again, and there’s no way around it.”