MACBA Skaters: Tom Penny

Tom Penny is one of those names that floats around skateboarding even if you’re not deep in the scene. People talk about him the way musicians talk about someone who changed the sound without ever trying to. The general consensus — from skaters who actually know what they’re talking about — is that his style shaped a whole era. Not in a loud, technical way, but in that quiet “everyone started skating differently after watching him” kind of way.

I only met him because of Luna Silva. She introduced us one afternoon in Barcelona, casual and unforced, like she was handing off a conversation rather than a piece of skateboarding folklore. Penny was calm, soft‑spoken, and exactly the kind of person you’d expect to have influenced people without ever announcing it.

For me, photographing him wasn’t about documenting a legend — I’m not the authority for that. It was more like stepping into a moment that a lot of other people would recognize instantly. A small intersection between my world and someone whose impact is mostly carried through stories, footage, and the way skaters still talk about him.