NXT 
When we asked Woody Gooch about his name, all he said was: “Woodya mean?”
Followed by: “I don’t really have a fucking clue how I got the name of two male private parts. I still haven’t asked my parents. No one ever believes me that my name is Woody Gooch.”
But we’ll be damned if it isn’t. And that Woody Gooch shoots a hell of a photo.
And for someone who humbly declines to speak much about his photography, they speak pretty loudly on his behalf. With only a year of a travel under his belt, we’ve got a pretty good feeling about what he’s capable of and can’t wait to see him dirty his boots around the globe. And with a name like that, he’s going to be just fine, wherever he goes. Who wouldn’t let Woody Gooch crash on their couch?
We had him curate a selection of his images above and got him to answer a few questions about how this all happened and where he and that name are going.
WHAT YOUTH: WHERE’D YOU GROW UP? I was born in a town on the outskirts of Melbourne, Australia. Once I turned 2 my parents moved me and my younger brother up to Noosa Heads which is on the Sunshine coast of Queensland. It’s been the most positive choice they’ve made.
WHEN DID YOU REALIZE YOU WANTED TO SHOOT PHOTOS? My number one dream was to become a professional skater when I was in my early teens. I used to skate every afternoon with my friends, and I would take my Nikon D40x down to the park and we would all share the camera take photos of each other. We did that for a couple of years until I stopped taking my camera down to the park so I could research how it properly worked. I was interested from that day on.
HOW’D YOU CRASH YOUR MOTORBIKE? [WOODY CRASHED HIS MOTORBIKE WHILE WE WERE GATHERING HIS PHOTOS FOR THIS]. Ha, Just being overconfident. It feels like you’re invincible on a motor bike until you try jump a 10 meter table top with converse, jeans, t-shirt and a open face helmet on. I have more cuts than a story to tell.
WHERE IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO SHOOT? I hadn’t traveled much until the start of this year. It’s hard to make my mind up on where’s my favorite. I like that enthusiastic feeling you get the first few days wherever you are though.
WHO DO YOU LIKE SHOOTING? I am open to a range of different genres and styles of people. But I did a 10-day trip over to WA [Western Australia] with Harrison Roach to shoot with Creed. That was something really inspiring for me.
WILDEST TRAVEL STORY SO FAR? I just finished up a 3 month internship with Deus Bali. Our plan was to drive all over Indonesia in a 1970’s Land Rover. There were plenty of mishaps and down comes throughout the relationship we shared with Jane (the car). I just remember leaving Jakarta and we realized we had just lost litters of fuel due to our bloody tank leaking. I think we took it to the mechanics a good 5 times to sort our problems out. Neither of us could figure out what else was wrong with this car and we cursed constantly. Each time we wanted to start we car we had to have 4 of us push it. It was a more “you had to be there” experience now that I say it [laughs].
WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO WITH YOUR PHOTOGRAPHY? I like living in the now. I have a high attraction to photojournalism, that is where I would like to conquer some goals of mine.
WHERE ARE YOU IN 10 YEARS? Doing something that motivates my enthusiasm every day I wake up.
