Photo Stories
Capturing the vitality of athletes still competing on the world stage in their 90s
When I turned 60 eight years ago, I became aware that there just weren’t images of older sportsmen and women in the media. Images of older people all highlighted their passivity and physical frailty. As a sporty older woman myself, I set out to redress the balance by photographing competitive athletes in their 60s through to their 90s.
Small problem: I knew nothing about photography and didn’t have a camera. Plus I’m no natural when it comes to technology. My young photography tutor wisely both started me off with a relatively simple model (not a Canon), and didn’t emphasize how
I’m on a mission to reframe what getting older looks and feels like
sports photography probably really isn’t the easiest of genres for a beginner.
The good news was that I learnt my way round my somewhat basic camera fairly quickly. The bad news was that it simply wasn’t up to the job, especially when I was shooting indoor events in poor light. I was frustrated with all the soft images I was looking at after each meet. At that stage, if I found I’d shot a single sharp one it would feel like a small victory.
Everything changed when I upgraded to my EOS-1D X and EF 70-200mm lens. Suddenly all my images were crystal-sharp and I could shoot fast! I was blown away by the detail. It’s incredibly forgiving too: tolerant when I forget to change my settings in variable weather, or simply get them ‘wrong’. So my apologies to anyone looking at the settings I used to take these pictures and wondering what on earth I was thinking…
I want viewers to be in no doubt as to the ages of the people I photograph, so I often crop in quite closely when I’m editing. I also want to make sure the expressions on their faces come across. I try to keep the background as uncluttered as possible and that’s a challenge in a busy stadium.
I’m on a mission to reframe what getting older looks and feels like. If anyone can encourage a more positive attitude to age, I think it’s the athletes I photograph – they’re making and breaking world records right up to age 100, and are incredibly inspiring.