`I got into photography through cycling'
In this weekly series looking back over their exceptionally long careers, we asked our four Montreal Gazette photographers to pick out their favourites and tell us about how they got made and what they mean to them.
Sometimes, it takes a while to discover the passion within. Dave Sidaway grew up in the farmlands of Mississauga, Ont., where getting around by bike was a teenager's main means of transportation. At 17 he joined the Mississauga Cycling Club, taking pictures of his biking friends and racing idols for fun.
In 1974, he travelled to Montreal at the age of 19 to shoot the road racing world championships, featuring Belgian legend Eddy Merckx. He borrowed a Canonflex and a couple of lenses from his father, Gazette photographer Len Sidaway, who gave him some tips.
“I didn't really know what I was doing,” he said. He was working as a mechanical draftsman in Oakville, Ont. “I got into photography through cycling.”
Two years later, the Olympics came to Montreal, and once again Dave made the trip east. He muscled his way through the crowds on Mount Royal to grab this photo of Sweden's Bernt Harry Johansson coming across the white line for the gold, alongside a CBC camera car.
In 2012, 36 years after the Olympics, he added it to Johansson's Wikipedia page. A few months later, a hotel in San Marino coowned by Johansson asked for a copy to put on their wall. Dave sent it.
It wasn't until six years after the Olympics that he sold his first photograph (a picture of Leafs star Darryl Sittler fishing), the start of a 42-year career in professional photography to date.
Dave still rides all around Montreal, stopping often to take pics he posts to his Instagram account (@davyboyofsilverbay). He no longer races.
“Now I just ride to stay alive,” he said.