Discovering how to Photograph Sports, One Game at a Time.
(not sure it's a good title)
Needs subtitle
When I got a request from the New York Times Magazine to shoot a basketball match, I warned
the editor that I have never seen a game, nor do I know anything about the sport. "That's
perfect," was the reply. Same thing happened with baseball, football, women's soccer, tennis,
skateboarding and big wave surfing. Somehow, in the last five years, I have gone from not being
able to differentiate between NBA, NFL and MLB, to photographing major games and players in
several sports.
When I get hired to shoot sports, I am always asked to do something "different." Which is a tall
order. To put it in practical terms — waltz in among professionals who have been shooting the
sport for years and take a unique photo of something I have never seen, using equipment I
never used. But I am always up for a challenge, sometimes foolishly so. Maybe, I could pull this
off. And just maybe, this would be my chance to start understanding and appreciating sports.
For every event I prepared in the same way I always do, doing as much visual research as
possible. I studied how different sports are photographed and learned the basic rules of each
game. I also read a book about the sociology of sports to get more understanding of why
people become such fans. Things began to seem more interesting. Sports contain elements of
all many things I seek out in my photography — subcultures, spectacle and secular rite-of-
passage. Investing new territory with personal interest has helped me navigate many shoots.
(not sure about this sentence and use of 'investing' but dont know how to make it better)
Doing so creates a point of focus in an otherwise overwhelming unfamiliar situation. I may not
know team player names, but I damn well know how to photograph a spectacle. Game on.
Here is a play by play account of the major sports I have photographed thus far. Trigger warning
for avid sports fans — I liked some sports more than others, but overall, this will not be a happy
convert story.
Basketball.
I liked basketball. Seeing players fly through the air with a graceful precision of a gazelle was
impressive. I could follow the game quite easily and could even tell which players were better
than others. Kevin Durant, the 6'7 star who I was assigned to watch like a hawk, was beautiful
in a game last summer, but when I photographed the Brooklyn Nets this past weekend, I
thought he looked lost and wobbly. The Nets lost that day.
PHOTOS
Here is a benefit of not being invested in the sport you are shooting, being able to focus on the
audience without any FOMO of missing the game. Photographing people's reaction was my
favorite part of the shoot. Basketball fans have so far been the most fun (and the most diverse)
of all else. I would like to party with them.
PHOTOS
Tennis.
Here is another benefit to not being a fanatic of the sport you are photographing — being able
to come up to the most famous players and flash them in the face without the slightest bit of
hesitation. I learned who Federer was the night before the shoot. Had I been a fan, my knees
would get weak at the thought of doing something like that. Incidentally, since then, I have
started playing tennis myself and following all the major players. I wonder if I would be able to
make the same photo today.
PHOTOS
American Football.
I got hired by the NFL to shoot a Knicks game. They promised it will be so fun that I'll be a full
convert by the time it's over. The flashing lights of the stadium, the excitement of the people,
the heroic entrance of the players, all promised a once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. But for the life of
me I couldn’t follow the game or understand what the fuss is all about. Definite pass.
PHOTOS
Women Soccer.
This was really tough to shoot. The game was a fast moving mess of legs and bodies which
made it hard to focus and even harder to compose something interesting. After getting
frustrated, I started thinking of the players as dancers, trying to catch them flying through the
air in frozen movement. In the end, I got a few decent shots.
PHOTOS
Baseball.
I photographed a day in a life of the World Series trophy in the last World Series game between
the Nationals and the Astros. The pageantry, the ritualistic worshipping of the object and the
crazy celebration that killed my faithful Nikon D3s by drowning it in cheap beer (more about
that here) were all things that I love to shoot. The game itself, not so much. To my uninitiated
self, it seemed to last forever, with constant stops and pauses and very little exciting action. At
about 3 hour mark, I fell asleep. Sorry, baseball.
PHOTOS
Though I didn't start following sports, I have gotten an idea of what makes games a bonding
community experience. Sociologists point out that big team sports have gained in popularity at
the same time as organized religion was waning in America. Being in a giant stadium I could
finally understand that for myself. The blinding lights, celebratory music and the exuberant joy
of the fans made me feel like I was a part of something special, something bigger. I could see
how thousands of strangers can feel bound with the same feverish excitement, mirroring the
abandon of religious ecstasy. Talking with Brooklyn Nets supporter at the end of the Brooklyn
Nets game, I asked if being a devoted fan could be compared to religion. "Sure," he answered,
"but sport disappoints, and God never does."
