Meet the Nieratkos - Todd Bratrud Made a Book

My friend Todd Bratrud draws so well that it makes me not even want to try. Any attempt seems like a wasted effort.

Since VICE tries to play the fringe skate card many of you might already be familiar with Todd's f'd up drawerings of severed limbs, green lizard chicks, and dead babies. Or if you're a sneakerhead you might have jerked off to some of his Nike SB dunk designs over the years. But what very few people know is that Todd is a photographer in his own right. Many, many years ago when he was still living in the Consolidated warehouse in Santa Cruz, California, I paid Todd a visit. I'm a big fan of his drawerings, so being in his art studio was sensory overload. As he doodled I went through box and bin after box and bin like a five-year-old. "OOOH! What's this? What's this?" Amongst all his posters and toys and paintings and skateboards were what seemed like hundreds, if not thousands, of developed photo envelopes from a supermarket. "Uh… what's this?"

"Girls," he said nonchalantly.

"I love girls! Can I see?" I tore into the envelopes like a junkie on Free Heroin Day. What I saw were random girl after random girl in casual poses, in non-descript, everyday locales… FULLY CLOTHED.

There wasn't one bare breast or vagina in the entire lot.

"What is all this shit?" I asked again.

"Girls," he said again.

"I see that, but they're… clothed."

"Yeah…"

That's all he said, "Yeah…" No further explanation.

I'd unearthed his dark, little addiction. Todd has no aspirations to be a photographer. He doesn't want to shoot fashion spreads for hip magazines from Canada. He just takes photos of girls for his own enjoyment.

Fucking creep. I love it.

Todd recently put out a book called I HATE THE ART OF TODD BRATRUD collecting a ton of his drawerings and paintings. There aren't any photos of Todd's Girls in the book, but you can see them in almost everything he draws.

VICE: Are you still taking photos of random fully-clothed girls? When's the last time you did that? Todd: I'm still totally into that whole idea, but it's been a while… a few years ago may have been the last time I photographed a girl like that.

How did you get into that?
I'm not totally sure. I thought about it for a long, long time. I'm a huge fan of people watching, especially girls. The variation in body shapes combined with a zillion different styles of presentation, color combinations, and on and on and on. Girls know how to look good. I eventually graduated from watching to asking to photograph.

Are you really using them for "reference" or do you beat off to them?
Isn't "reference" street slang for "beat off"?? That was my understanding anyhow…

Have you beat off to them even just once?
Beat off to the actual photographs? I've got a really bad memory thanks to some head trauma a while back, so I'm not 100 percent sure, but knowing me I'm gonna go ahead and give myself the benefit of the doubt and say yes. Yes, I have.

Where do you find these girls to photograph?
Anywhere.

What's your approach to get them to do it?
I don't have an approach at all. I just kind of awkwardly ask in whatever way comes out. Either shoot on the spot if I have a camera and it's somehow convenient, or set it up for later. It's different each time, I guess

Any crazy girl stories?
They're all crazy.

Is it weird to you that I think it's much more strange to take fully-clothed photos than nude ones?
It's not weird that you think that way. I'm well aware it's strange. Most girls actually assume I'm trying to ask to shoot nudes in a round about way. I just like the way normal girls do what they do.

You moved from sunny southern California, home of skateboarding, to Grand Forks, North Dakota. Why?
I grew up 20 miles from here; Grand Forks was the nearest town that had more than one crummy spot from where I lived as a kid. I moved back temporarily to babysit my four-year-old nephew, and along the way a few cool/shitty things happened that resulted in a full-blown move back to the upper Midwest. I absolutely love it here. It's on the edge of country living. Grand Forks is a farming community for the most part, watch the movie Fargo. I'm 45 minutes north… the movie is pretty spot on.

Care to share some of the cool or shitty things?
I came back to the area to basically nanny for my brother and his wife—just a six-month or so gig. This was right after the HIGH 5 got rolling. Over that six months I pretty much went flat broke/lost my mind working on the HIGH 5. So broke that when I got back to California I couldn't afford rent any longer—I had just enough for a uHaul, so I got that and hit the road. I never planned on staying in California forever, so I try to look at it like it was just time. It's epic back here: seasons, solitude, family… I guess it doesn't sound like anything cool really happened to prompt a move, but I'm really happy to be back.

How are things going with your skateboard company, High 5?
The HIGH 5 is a work-in-progress. I'm not trying to really work towards anything specifically with it, just one day at a time and sort of see where it takes the team and myself. It's morphing into exactly what it wants to be… or that's what I tell myself.

Can I get a bro model?
Ummmm, do you skate vert or street?

What's vert?
You called my bluff… I have no idea what vert is.

More stupid can be found at Chrisnieratko.com

@Nieratko

Previously – Parenting Tips