For an athlete there is no more defining moment in their life than the Olympic Games. For four or more years, the Games consumes their life, and the scenario of body and mind competing in the Games is monotonously but importantly played over and over again. A forecast of moments in which they will anticipate, react to, and live when the set day of competition arrives.
The same moments that I must try to anticipate, react to, and live when they are presented to me. I have been a full-time professional sports photographer here in Australia for 30 years. A photograph 'fixes the moment' of an event. In that moment, the photograph preserves what the eye might otherwise not capture.
As a sports photographer, my work will constantly revolve around each one of these set moments. There will be many. But unlike the athlete, I will have little control over the biology of that moment. And so, vision and reflex become my key focus.
So herein lays the essence of why I chose to be a sports photographer. My world is about moments - quick fleeting moments that are otherwise missed - but brought into existence by the physical photograph. And the moments are many, the moments are quick, and the moments all exist with different biologies to each other. The biology is determined by the vision and portrayal that the photographer judges as being part of its outer skin. The sports photographer puts a little of his own self into his grand vision, and ultimately the exhibition of that captured moment.
For I know I am blessed. For I witness and record a special time in these athlete’s lives. A time which impacts and shapes their present and future. Time that swings from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other. Or time that swings from one end of the physical spectrum to the other.
You need to understand what’s missing when you take a photo. Your eyes are just one part. All your five senses must move. The five senses are body, feeling, perception, intention, and consciousness.
The same goes when driving. Like my Nikon camera, the Subaru Forester SUV is an essential part of my hardware when moving from one commission to another. I travel the state in my Forester 2.5i Premium AWD SUV to complete my quest to record the athlete’s special moment. Every moment is a chance to do.
From Sydney to the Nepean River at the foot of the Blue Mountains to photograph the Australian Ladies Rowing Team. To the AIS in Canberra to shoot our Australian Dolphins Swim Team, Water Polo Team, or drive to the Rally nearby. To Jindabyne to photograph our Off Road Xtreme Athletes in their attempt to swim, cycle and run in the wilds of the Snowy Mountains. To Crookwell, the home of Field Hockey in Australia. Or to Port Macquarie to photograph Australia’s endurance triathletes competing in the Triathlon each April.
I drive with a mind chock full of thought about exposures, light, shutter speeds, pixels, vision, and what my opportunities might be. That’s why my partnership with the Forester has grown beyond man and machine. My cloudy brain is always cleared and offset by the Forester’s SUV visibility to keep my mind on the driving by detecting and alerting me of all things unsafe. The Adaptive Cruise Control is by far my favourite feature. Lane Departure Warnings keeps me cool and in control. And whilst I haven’t had to use it so far, knowing that the Pre-Collision Braking System is there brings calm to my long-distance drive.
Each year, many pictures are taken and many kms are driven. I’m merely a photographer progressing towards a goal ….. with a car, a camera and a passion.
Delly Carr
Subaru Ambassador
19 May 2021
