Skateboarding was a way of life for Josh Welch. From Thomaston to Stockbridge to McDonough, he shredded his way through Georgia. One trick at a time.
Josh Welch founded MixxFlixx Media, a company specializing in logo animations, graphic design, video editing, photography, and videography in 2022. (Photo courtesy of MixxFlixx Media)
“My grandmother got me a skateboard when I was five,” Welch says. “I liked it and ended up making friends that were into skating. My grandmother started taking me and my friends to skateparks. I would take the bus straight to the skatepark after school, too.”
Welch and his friends grew up playing Tony Hawk’s skateboarding video game series. When the video game Skate dropped in 2007, the group went all out to celebrate its launch.
“We were all at the skatepark waiting for the release,” he says. “One of our buddies got the beta version. Ten of us sat in the lobby playing that game.”
Capturing Memories
As Welch’s passion for skateboarding progressed, so did his desire to experience the hobby from new angles.
Pursuing photography, he took his first photo at the now-closed Hazard County Skate Park in McDonough, Ga. Featuring more than 12,000 square feet of half-pipes, railings, stairs, ramps, and obstacles, the indoor arena invited visitors to skate to their hearts’ content.
“I took some pictures of my buddy Trevor with a new Canon camera that I had gotten for Christmas,” says 29-year-old Welch, who was 13 at the time. “He was coming down some steps at Hazard. I saw the pictures and was like, ‘Wow, those look pretty good.’ I wanted to take more.”
Automotive Artistry
“A few years later, everyone stopped skating as they got older,” Welch says. “All of the skateparks I went to as a kid closed. I started getting into cars at 18. I didn’t have a camera, but I would take pictures on my phone. I found new ways to take cool shots.”
Welch saved up for a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera that provided a creative gateway free of technological limitations. But photography remained a hobby rather than a career. From 18 to 27, Welch worked in Georgia-based family businesses.
He worked as a technician at his grandparent’s business, Welch Industries, which has provided solutions for motor coach air conditioning maintenance and repair since 1984. Welch also worked at his father’s window film tool company, Tint Hozilla, learning the ins and outs of website maintenance–a perfect segue into the industry.
A New Scene
“My dad had gotten a new Nikon camera,” Welch says. “We talked about attending Tinter Battles in 2022. It was an opportunity for me to get back into photography.”
Josh Welch, founder of MixxFlixx Media, snapped shots of Brandon ‘Hoss’ Evans, owner of Xtreme Shades in Smithfield, N.C., in 2022. These photos led to industry-wide recognition. (Photo courtesy of MixxFlixx Media)
Welch founded MixxFlixx Media, a company specializing in logo animations, graphic design, video editing, photography, and videography. But his comeback as a creative wasn’t yet complete.
“My pictures at Tinter Battles in 2022 weren’t all that popular,” he shares. “The situation changed when Brandon ‘Hoss’ Evans of Xtreme Shades in Smithfield, N.C., came to our shop. He was working on his van, and I took some pictures. Erik Devash of Tint Wiz saw them and supported me coming to the International Window Film Conference and Tint-Off™ (WFCT).”
Welch snapped more than 300 photos at WFCT 2022, gaining recognition throughout the industry for his talent. Following the event, Window Film magazine featured the photographer in their November/December 2022 issue.
In addition to owning and operating MixxFlixx Media, Welch works as a graphic designer at Iron Duck Designs. Today, he is the window film industry’s go-to source for photography, spotlighting each WFCT, Tinter Battles, and Window Film Revolution Family Reunion.
“I did a lot of bouncing around, trying new things,” Welch says of his career path. “Don’t give up and keep trying new things. Your career path may be unexpected. It may be something you never saw yourself getting into. The appreciation everyone has for me … it’s a family feel. No matter where you go in this industry, it all feels like a family gathering.”