Playing an editor role at Concrete means I cross paths – whether through email, on the phone or in person – with skate photographers from all over. One example is Oakland’s Tadashi Yamaoda, who regularly sends us skate photos of Canucks when they’re in the Bay Area. And in the spirit of DIY publications (like SF’s Lowcard), he produces his own print/online ‘zine:

“I started Kobrah about a year ago,” says the self-proclaimed 33.521 year-old. “I got really motivated when I saw another ‘zine that a fellow photographer, Blair Alley, had made called Later Life. It was just party photos, random lifestyle shit and some skate bails – all full-page, no text. I just thought it was genius and that it would be really cheap to make it Xerox-style like he did. Anyways, the first Kobrah issue was just purely for fun, and I’m trying to keep it that way.”

Oak-Town’s Max Schaaf adorns the cover of Kobrah #5 with a big backside air at this year’s Rumble In Ramona (click here to get Rob “Sluggo” Boyce’s account of the event).

In terms of Canadian content in the recently released Issue 5, it’s got a lot: an article sarcastically titled “USA is better than Canada” (with photos of Ian Twa, Sluggo, Wade Desarmo, Chris St-Cyr and Lee Yankou); “Ridin’ through the Danger Zone…” with MTL’s Justin Gastelum (who had a sick section in Elephant Direct); and “The Raw Advantage”, which is about Saskatoon’s Chris Kendall getting hired on as The Berrics’ Raw Food Lifestyle Coach.

This is a photo of a photo from Kobrah #5. It’s Zero’s Tony Cervantes doing a crook. By clicking many of the photos in the online edition, you’ll be led to the video evidence.

Click here for Tadashi’s photo portfolio on the Transworld site, and right here to visit the Kobrah website.

Stay tuned for a follow-up post featuring Tadashi’s top 3 favourite Kobrah articles to-date, along with his choices for top Canadians who’ve appeared in the DIY ‘zine.