My goal is to give insight into the culture and what it means to grow up as a skateboarder. The title comes from the term “skate rat,” which skaters call each other and those who are committed to the skateboarding lifestyle. Skateboarding was a part of my coming-of-age experience, as was photography. Photographing skateboarding was a natural extension of exploration into my life. In this series, I used formal portraiture to show the personality of the skateboarder and the individuality expressed in skateboarding. I also focused on showing the skateboarder and their interaction within city-scapes and other environments. The interaction between the skater and the environment influences their choices and their own identity.