The Bastard Photographer of Portland: Ethan Walsh

Bio: I have no family. My mother put me in debt 100K ten years ago through forging my signature for credit cards and school loans. I was about to start law school. I had a full ride. I wanted to change this country. I studied Marxist Social Theory, Game Theory, Class Inequality, Systems of Labor Management, Criminology, and Japanese Culture. I speak Japanese and have lived in Portland for 34 years. Everything that’s happened to me made me who I always wanted to be.


“When I started I really wanted to do something different. In a lot of skate photos the skater’s face isn’t super visible and I wanted people who see my photos to recognize the skaters I photograph in the street. So I added the portraits. I’ve been using photoshop for 20 years and I like to try to tell a story as simply as possible. Ohh yeah I also planned to release a print magazine three years ago but a crooked cop didn’t like how well spoken I was so he put a buncha false charges on me and I had to spend $5000 (the magazine savings) on a lawyer. I’m still free but as a result I just put out a bunch of the photos that were going to go in the mag. Those were a lot of the edited photos with skaters faces or bodies superimposed over the skate photo. Everyone seems hyped! Thank you Confusion Mag! DIY for life.”  – Ethan Walsh

Xeno Miller. Walljam pivot fakie.
Sandy Peraza. Invert revert at Burnside
Levi Poole Boardslide. Stigmata
Ty Johnson 50-50 and after party
Tameron Eaglehorse. Switch BS flip
Benjamin Walker. FS Blunt. Swift park
Riley Stevens melon at Burnside Halloween
Mike Marcus. Panda Express nose grind
Levi Poole. Kickturn DIY RIP
Tameron Eaglehorse. 180 switch 5-0
Kristina Narayan. Walking the dog
Jorel Lord. Hippity Hop at Powells Books
Mike Marcus. Layback slug slide
James Alby. Polejam
Deaf Paul and Deaf Rob. Burnside buddy transfer
Maddie Collins. The Lion Back D
Colten Aiken. Front salad. Kooksville DIY
Caleb Herford. Rainy day FSA
Cabrea Davis. Ninja Ollie and lipslide on unmoved sign
Benjamin Walker. Smith

Also I included a kooky-ass pic of myself in my halloween ‘costume.’ I make shirts, hats, and do stick n poke tatts for all the homies.

And thanks to Lipstick Skateboards for backing me. And also thanks to Smart Collective Skateshop.

1 thought on “The Bastard Photographer of Portland: Ethan Walsh”

  1. Ethan you are so talented! You always have been brilliant! You were always so advanced. I know because I was there the day you were born

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