Jacob Hannah
Reporter Magazine
Junior
Rochester Institute of Technology
Derrick White (middle) keeps his eye on the ball while struggling for position for the rebound during a game of pick-up basketball at Cobbs Hill park in Rochester, NY.
This week’s image is a very nicely executed overhead photo at a pick-up basketball game. Jacob Hannah of RIT took a situation that many enterprising photographers shoot and took it an extra step by climbing the backboard and using the worn metal rim and chain-link net as a framing device for the action unfolding below. The light is pleasing despite the bland color palette while the tension in the image is generated by the two sets of eyes on the right. I especially like the pair looking up from the shadows. The photographer’s timing is superb and the angle provides a wonderfully clean background. For what this photo is, it is a success.
But what exactly is it? Does this image tell us anything about the three subjects? Does it advance the understanding of sport and it’s role in the urban experience? Does it tell us anything about the photographer and his vision or voice? I don’t think so.
Maybe it’s because I’ve seen too many photos of this ilk on sportsshooter.com, but I’m starting to tire of the soulless sports image. Unless it’s a significant play, I think most sports action photos are boring. To be fair, among those boring sports photos are 99% of the photos that I take while covering sports for the Chicago Tribune. Newspapers want clichÈ, they want to see bat on ball, football on fingertips and puck on stick. I crave something different- sport as life not life as sport.
I would like to challenge all you budding sports photographers out there to be different. Shoot from center field while everyone else shoots from first base. Take that 300mm lens off your camera and shoot with a 50mm. Follow an athlete into their everyday life and show us their motivation, their desire and their sacrifice. For inspiration, check out the artistry of Getty’s Donald Miralle and Adam Pretty, the behind the scenes prep coverage by The Oregonian’s Bruce Ely and the crazy Olympics work by VII’s Joachim Ladefoged. These are photographers with vision, with something to say. There are thousands of photographers who can stand on the sideline and successfully auto-focus their way through life, but if you want to stand out, be one of the few that choose to be different.
