EXPOSURE
THE STORIES BEHIND SOME FAMILIAR NAMES' FAVOURITE SHOTS
“What came first for you, bikes or cameras?” It’s a question I’m often asked, and the answer is bikes. Riding bikes is just so much fun and, for me, taking a camera along when I went riding was a way to commemorate those times. It helped that my dad’s always been into photography, which is what made me think that taking a camera out in the first place was a good idea. I’m mostly self-taught and I grew up in the era when digital was overtaking film as the medium of choice, making it that bit easier to learn. I’m super-lucky, not only to take pictures of bikes for a living, but also to work with all the amazing people that I do!
1. The beginning
It all started with a six-megapixel digital camera that I’d take with me up to the dirt jumps. When I got a bit tired, I’d stop and take some photos. This one from 2004 at Wisley Trails is of the main builder, Digs. Dirt jump spots are great places to learn photography because you can stand in one spot and have multiple people come through the frame, and you can spend hours there learning how the light moves and changes. I used to print out photos from these sessions and bring them up to the trails on my next visit in a folder for everyone to look through.
2. The subject
I’ve known Olly Wilkins for 28 years and have been snapping him riding bikes for at least 16 of those. In that time, he’s massively aided and influenced my photography, and is still to this day one of the best guys out there to take pictures with. This is an out-of-focus, grainy black-and-white film shot, but it doesn’t matter because it captures a moment in time and takes me back to the basic fun of it – out riding and taking pictures of mates.
3. the Adventure
The rider in this shot is Toby Pantling. He was one of the first friends I met through riding, and we both share a love of exploring new and di erent places. A few years back, we drove up to Torridon in Scotland and just rode every day. We didn’t really know what we were doing, so some of the rides we plotted were rubbish, but others included some of the best singletrack I’ve ever ridden.
4. the Mountains
Living in the South East, mountains are pretty far away, which has always made me dream of bigger hills. In 2016 I had the opportunity to ride the Yak Attack MTB race with my partner Rachael Walker and her friend Julia Hobson.
Taking place in Nepal’s Himalaya, it uses some of the highest ridable trails in the world, topping out at 5,416m and sometimes descending over 2,600m in one hit. On this particular day I was su ering from food poisoning and, at 4,500m altitude, I was struggling with the lack of oxygen too. But even my low energy levels couldn’t detract from the sheer beauty of the surroundings, as this photo shows.
5. the Roots
Every now and then I find myself shooting the sort of stu I did when I started. I find it super-fun to go back to the dirt jumps, lose the pressures of time and opinion, and simply enjoy the freedom to try di erent things and take whatever photos I want. For me, this more recent shot of Olly Wilkins, shot at his mate John’s backyard spot in Surrey, just sums up one of the best feelings of mountain biking – flying through the air on a summer evening.
I WAS STRUGGLING WITH THE LACK OF OXYGEN, BUT EVEN MY LOW ENERGY LEVELS COULDN’ T DE TRACT FROM THE SHEER BEAUTY OF THE SURROUNDINGS