Ladies of Dogtown

All photos by Jazmin Gomez

If you have any amount of interest in surf and skate culture, you may have heard of the film, “Lords of Dogtown''. This film was based in Venice, CA where surfskate culture was born. In the movie, the Lords of Dogtown refers to the Zephyr surfskate team which consisted of all boys (Z-boys), with the exception of one girl (Z-girl). Fast forward to today, we now have a women founded skate collective that goes by the name of GRLSWIRL. GRLSWIRL embodies the true essence of surfskate culture here in Southern California and aims to empower people of all levels, backgrounds, ages, sexualities, and so on.

GRLSWIRL aims to create a safe space for all who have a love for skateboarding. They have accomplished this by holding weekly group skates in the Venice Beach and Santa Monica areas and having chapters in San Diego, Lisbon, Paris, and New York. They also hosted their very own surfskate festival where they held a surfskate competition and had legendary judges such as Jeff Ho, who was the creator of the infamous Zephyr surfskate team. The GRLSWIRL community are the true, modern day Ladies of Dogtown. I have experienced the magic of GRLSWIRL myself and was fortunate enough to meet many amazing people and create friendships that will last a lifetime. I am honored to have been able to capture some of these moments through my love for photography. Here is a glimpse into some of the many Ladies of Dogtown, on film.