{"id":716500,"date":"2025-11-20T15:13:44","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T12:13:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=716500"},"modified":"2025-11-20T15:13:44","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T12:13:44","slug":"photos-of-medellins-raw-tender-and-fearless-skateboarding-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=716500","title":{"rendered":"Photos of Medell\u00edn\u2019s raw, tender and fearless skateboarding culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"main-article standard \">\n<div class=\"article-main-content article-wrapper has-media-but-its-an-image\" data-status=\"loaded\" data-primary-article=\"true\" data-url=\"\/art-photography\/article\/69087\/1\/medellin-raw-tender-fearless-skateboarding-lauren-luxenberg-wtf-ronnie\" data-article-id=\"69087\">\n<header class=\"article-header has-landscape-image no-media\">\n<div class=\"wrapper dg-max-width\">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<figure class=\"main-img has-figcaption\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.39\" data-template=\"Standard Article\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"2156\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430749-1.jpg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430749-1\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"inner\"><span class=\"credit\">Photography Lauren Luxenberg, creative director <span class=\"nowrap\">Ronal Sanmartin<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"meta\">\n<div class=\"inner\"><span class=\"month\">November<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"20\">20,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2025<\/span><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"titles\">\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - art-photography\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"title\"><span>Photos of Medell\u00edn\u2019s raw, tender and fearless <span class=\"nowrap\">skateboarding culture<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"standfirst\">\n<h2>Touching Ground, a new photography and film project by Lauren Luxenberg and Ronal Sanmartin (aka WTF Ronnie), goes deep into the city\u2019s thriving <span class=\"nowrap\">skate scene<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<p><span class=\"month\">November<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"day\" data-day=\"20\">20,<\/span>\u00a0<br \/>\n<span class=\"year\">2025<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tags\">\n<div class=\"sections\"><a class=\"category vertical - art-photography\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"providers\">\n<div class=\"contributors\"><span class=\"contributor\" data-contributor-role=\"Text\"><span class=\"contributor-role\">Text<\/span><a class=\"contributor-name\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/user\/ThomWaite\">Thom Waite<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article-body-container\">\n<aside class=\"primary\">\n<div class=\"sticky bottom\">\n<div class=\"read-more\"><span class=\"read-more-header\">Read More<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-items\">\n<div class=\"read-more-item vertical-art-photography\">\n<div class=\"read-more-item-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69042\/1\/sam-penn-max-exhibition-intimacy-sex-new-york-life-gallery\" class=\"article-list-item-image\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Sam Penn, Max Battle, exhibition, New York Life Gallery\" class=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430411-17.jpg\" title=\"1430411-17\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-item-content\"><a class=\"category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/article\/69042\/1\/sam-penn-max-exhibition-intimacy-sex-new-york-life-gallery\"><span class=\"title\">Sam Penn captures the mutual intimacy of sex and connection<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"read-more-item vertical-life-culture\">\n<div class=\"read-more-item-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/58408\/1\/why-everyone-except-me-is-an-immature-little-baby-james-greig-adult-babies\" class=\"article-list-item-image\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"6. Everyone needs to grow up\" class=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1341559-1.jpeg\" title=\"1341559-1\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-item-content\"><a class=\"category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/58408\/1\/why-everyone-except-me-is-an-immature-little-baby-james-greig-adult-babies\"><span class=\"title\">Everyone needs to grow up<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"read-more-item vertical-life-culture\">\n<div class=\"read-more-item-link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69071\/1\/1-in-4-men-believe-no-one-will-ever-fall-in-love-with-them-state-of-uk-men-study\" class=\"article-list-item-image\"><span class=\"image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"her\" class=\"img\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430624-16.jpg\" title=\"1430624-16\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"read-more-item-content\"><a class=\"category\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\">Life &amp; Culture<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/life-culture\/article\/69071\/1\/1-in-4-men-believe-no-one-will-ever-fall-in-love-with-them-state-of-uk-men-study\"><span class=\"title\">1 in 4 men believe no one will ever fall in love with them<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"article-body wrapper\">\n<div class=\"dazed-gallery has-15-images \">\n<div class=\"inner\">\n<header>\n<div class=\"info\"><span class=\"heading\">Touching Ground<\/span><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"gallery\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumbs\">\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36315\/0\/touching-ground\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"1476\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430740.jpg\" width=\"2214\" title=\"1430740\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36315\/1\/touching-ground\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"1598\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430726.jpg\" width=\"2397\" title=\"1430726\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36315\/2\/touching-ground\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"2000\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430751.jpg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430751\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36315\/3\/touching-ground\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"1436\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430725.jpg\" width=\"2154\" title=\"1430725\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36315\/4\/touching-ground\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"1692\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430732.jpg\" width=\"2538\" title=\"1430732\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-thumb\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\/gallery\/36315\/5\/touching-ground\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"1989\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430733.jpg\" width=\"2983\" title=\"1430733\"><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"gallery-footer\">Gallery \/ 15 images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>\u201cThe ground in Colombia is magical,\u201d says skater and creative director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/wtf_ronnieworld\/?hl=en\">Ronal Sanmartin<\/a>, also known as WTF Ronnie. \u201cThings here grow in places you never expect them to grow.\u201d He\u2019s speaking both literally and figuratively: <\/span><span>Medell\u00edn, his hometown since childhood, is carved like a bowl in the mountains, filled with flowers, trees, and greenery. But the city\u2019s cultural roots run equally deep.<\/span><span> \u201cWe know we have a difficult story, not everything is happy here,\u201d he adds, \u201cbut people feel so proud about their neighbourhoods, their families.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Alongside the photographer and director <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/laurenluxenberg\/?hl=en\">Lauren Luxenberg<\/a>, Sanmartin has spent the last several years documenting that pride as it blooms throughout the city\u2019s skate scene. The result is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/touchinground.mde\/\"><em><span>Touching Ground<\/span><\/em><\/a><span>, a sprawling project that spans photography, film, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Luxenberg has been closely tied to Medell\u00edn for six years, she tells Dazed, after she ended up there \u201cby accident\u201d on a South American horseback riding trip. The first person she met there was the rapper Sr Pablo, and she soon found herself immersed in a community of musicians and graffiti artists. \u201cThe way people collaborate and create there, and come together as a community to be part of something bigger than themselves, shocked me quite a bit,\u201d she says, \u201cand I really wanted to start capturing that.\u201d A couple of Colombian exhibitions followed, one focused on bringing the vibrant community of Medell\u00edn together, and a second that showed those same artists and more alongside their families \u2013\u00a0their roots.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"40127f73-aad3-4dcf-a76b-b395001041ee\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/0\/1430732.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.33\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"2257\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430732-1.jpg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430732-1\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Touching Ground, a poem <span class=\"nowrap\">to Medell\u00edn<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography Lauren Luxenberg, creative director <span class=\"nowrap\">Ronal Sanmartin<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>It was during Luxenberg\u2019s second Medell\u00edn exhibition that she met WTF Ronnie, a central figure in the city\u2019s skateboarding scene. This subcultural crossover was likely to happen sooner or later, she suggests: \u201cSkating is so present in Medell\u00edn, more than any other city I\u2019ve been in. <\/span><span>It\u2019s a huge part of youth culture. It\u2019s a huge part of art, and the graffiti scene. It\u2019s a huge part of the design and filmmaking scene. Almost everyone I work with there, even if they\u2019re not skaters, skating is part of their life.\u201d But it hasn\u2019t always been this way. <\/span><strong>\u201c<\/strong><span>The first time I saw skateboarding was in a movie on television,\u201d says Sanmartin. From the age of six, he also listened to rock music and began to see skateboarders pop up in music videos on MTV. \u201cI always said to my mum, \u2018I want to be like these guys when I grow up.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span>Skateboarding helped me to find another world, to make a life\u201d \u2013 WTF Ronnie\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span>Sanmartin<\/span><span>was raised in Manrique, one of the barrios<\/span><span>that swelled on the hillsides of <\/span><span>Medell\u00edn as people fled paramilitary violence in the countryside. Growing up, he played football \u2013\u00a0a national passion \u2013 but longed to be friends with a group of \u201cpunky kids\u201d who skated around his barrio. \u201cBack in the day, skateboarding was a marginal thing,\u201d he says, and skaters were often regarded as outcasts or looked upon with suspicion. But Sanmartin tells a very different story: those \u201cpunky kids\u201d welcomed him with open arms, and one even let him borrow a board. \u201cI quit playing football,\u201d he remembers. \u201cA new world opened to me, and everything started to make sense. I started learning about life, about skateboarding, about new possibilities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>More than just community, though, skateboarding offered Sanmartin a sense of escape. Despite its beauty and creativity, he adds, his neighbourhood was one of <\/span><span>Medell\u00edn\u2019s most dangerous throughout the 1980s and 90s.<\/span><span> \u201c<\/span><span>It was almost 15 years of raw violence. Skateboarding helped me to find another world, to make a life.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"8c07ddb3-199a-4b56-b143-b39500109b2e\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/0\/1430745.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.75\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430745.jpg\" width=\"2257\" title=\"1430745\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Touching Ground, a poem <span class=\"nowrap\">to Medell\u00edn<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography Lauren Luxenberg, creative director <span class=\"nowrap\">Ronal Sanmartin<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>To shoot <\/span><em><span>Touching Ground<\/span><\/em><span>, Luxenberg and Sanmartin travelled around various barrios to watch friends and other skaters hang out, land tricks, or perform daring hill bombs. What they found was a city of stark contrasts, Luxenberg says. <\/span><span>\u201cThe weather changes very quickly. The energy of people changes very quickly. The city has a lot of beauty, but there\u2019s a lot of pain as well.\u201d<\/span><span> She was left with an acute sense of the fear that\u2019s intertwined with the history of Medell\u00edn and the struggles of its people, but skateboarding also became a symbol of their willingness to stand up to danger and uncertainty. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cSkateboarding is an opportunity to reframe fear and face it,\u201d Luxenberg<\/span><span> explains, even if that means throwing caution to the wind and, occasionally, sustaining some pretty severe injuries. As the photographer says: \u201cBeauty comes at a cost.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"f56b24ac-812d-4749-a592-b395001076bf\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/0\/1430740.jpg\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.76\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430740-1.jpg\" width=\"2278\" title=\"1430740-1\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Touching Ground, a poem <span class=\"nowrap\">to Medell\u00edn<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography Lauren Luxenberg, creative director <span class=\"nowrap\">Ronal Sanmartin<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>There\u2019s a softer side to skating that emerges through the project as well though.\u00a0Between skate sessions, the book\u2019s subjects pose with bouquets of flowers, share a kiss in the street, or lounge around in cafes and bars. \u201c<\/span><span>Mostly, the things that you see about skateboarding are people [performing] gnarly tricks,\u201d says Sanmartin, \u201cand I love it, of course.\u201d But, for him, <\/span><em><span>Touching Ground<\/span><\/em><span> is just as much about community and healing. Going back to a core theme of the project, the process of documenting friends and chosen family in <\/span><span>Medell\u00edn <\/span><span>made him feel more connected to his own roots as well. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cAt points in my life I was trying to escape, but in that process I forgot where I came from,\u201d he admits. \u201cI needed to reconnect&#8230; with my city, with my ancestors, with the story of my family, of my country.\u201d On the other hand, he adds: \u201cThis project is kind of an excuse to explain to my father what I was doing all these years, outside in the streets from 10am to 3am in the morning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"8cdd3df0-65d7-482b-99e3-b395001019a5\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/0\/1430725.JPG\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"0.72\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"portrait\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"3000\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430725-1.jpg\" width=\"2156\" title=\"1430725-1\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Touching Ground, a poem <span class=\"nowrap\">to Medell\u00edn<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography Lauren Luxenberg, creative director <span class=\"nowrap\">Ronal Sanmartin<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>The first proper shoot for <\/span><em><span>Touching Ground <\/span><\/em><span>began in January, and spiralled from one day into ten as the word spread and more people started showing up, often drawn in by Luxenberg\u2019s openness and genuine curiosity. \u201cThe thing you learn here [is] you have to be strong to survive,\u201d says Sanmartin. \u201cSo I was in silence a lot of my life. Now, Lauren gives me this opportunity to speak, to tell my story.\u201d The same went for many others who became involved in the project. \u201cAll of them opened their lives to Lauren,\u201d he adds, \u201cbecause she is talking to them, asking about their lives, about their dreams.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This local community will continue to be involved in the project as it rolls out in book form on December 3, with a film set to follow in the new year. The official launch will take place at the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.elmamm.org\/\"><span>Museum of Modern Art of Medell\u00edn<\/span><\/a><span>, but it will culminate in Sanmartin\u2019s own neighbourhood, with a huge party featuring local food, drink, and cumbia. \u201cPeople are going to get crazy,\u201d he says, with a grin on his face. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<figure class=\"inline-img expandable dev-view-hide\" data-img=\"79f31e47-7885-4ebb-85f8-b3950010c641\" data-src=\"https:\/\/images-prod.dazeddigital.com\/2000\/azure\/dazed-prod\/1430\/0\/1430751.JPG\" data-img-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\" data-img-aspect-ratio=\"1.49\"><span class=\"has-css-custom-props image-container\" data-aspect-ratio-type=\"landscape\"><span class=\"preserve-aspect-ratio\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Touching Ground\" class=\"img\" height=\"2016\" src=\"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1430751-1.jpg\" width=\"3000\" title=\"1430751-1\"><\/span><\/span><figcaption class=\"img-caption\"><span class=\"caption\">Touching Ground, a poem <span class=\"nowrap\">to Medell\u00edn<\/span><\/span><span class=\"credit\">Photography Lauren Luxenberg, creative director <span class=\"nowrap\">Ronal Sanmartin<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<div class=\"embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"raw-html\">\n<p><span>Proceeds from the book launch will also go back to the community, on top of a gift collection for the neighbourhood\u2019s kids in December, which is especially important in a place that has been \u201cabandoned\u201d by authorities for many years. \u201cThe government never do shit for the neighbourhood,\u201d Sanmartin adds. But even more importantly, he says: \u201cA lot of people are going to get inspired, kids are going to see it and want to start a new life. I feel like they\u2019re going to heal too. They\u2019re going to know the barrio is important, and that somebody is watching out for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span>Made by Lauren Luxenberg and Ronal Sanmartin (also known as WTF Ronnie), <\/span><\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/touchinground.mde\/\"><span>Touching Ground<\/span><\/a><em><span> is printed by the Bogot\u00e1-based Estudio Dust, with production led by Bill Abner, and design by Felipe Gonzalez, one of Medell\u00edn\u2019s most acclaimed visual artists. The film is edited by Ronny Xavier and scored by Nathan Coen alongside Medell\u00edn\u2019s Daniel Obreg\u00f3n in collaboration with musician Pablo Sep\u00falveda. Production design is by Laura Henao.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"instagram-container embed-content\" data-embed-type=\"media-instagram\" data-script-depends=\"instagram-embeds\">\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<footer class=\"article-footer\">\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<div class=\"article-series\">\n<h4 class=\"heading\">More on these topics<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-series\"><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/art-photography\">Art &amp; Photography<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/q-and-a\">Q+A<\/a><a class=\"series\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dazeddigital.com\/tag\/skate\">Skate<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/footer>\n<div class=\"grid\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp\">\n<div class=\"lava-lamp-text-container\">\n<h3 class=\"lava-lamp-subheading\">Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the 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new photography and film project by Lauren Luxenberg and Ronal Sanmartin (aka WTF Ronnie), goes deep into the city\u2019s thriving skate scene November\u00a0 20,\u00a0 2025 Art &amp; PhotographyQ+A TextThom Waite [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":716501,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[76],"class_list":["post-716500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-dazeddigital-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=716500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/716501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=716500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=716500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=716500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}