Soccer and Photojournalism: Kindred Spirits

photo by Tom Burton

World Cup has been great to watch with some truly amazing matches. Great players came prepared for the chance of making creative, assertive decisions that make or break the game. In a fraction of a second, they either capture the moment or miss it all together.

Like soccer, photojournalism is a craft of quick reactions and creativity and playing the sport feels a lot like working an assignment.

I’ve been in photojournalism a long time, but soccer is something I’ve some to later, especially playing the game. My kids played growing up and I learned the game that way and helped coach their teams later on. It’s only been the last few years that I’ve laced up cleats and played in weekly pick up games but the more I play, the more I recognize the similarities.

I love the skill of positioning in soccer. When you don’t have the ball and are waiting, you drift into the open position, waiting for a pass. If you’re sneaky, you drift behind a defender who doesn’t see you. It is so much like figuring out the best place to be for a photo, quietly moving into position and then pushing the shutter at the perfect moment. Getting the pass and the clean shot on goal feels just the same.

Being in on a corner kick you are packed in tight, throwing elbows and shoving, you position yourself to get to the ball with perfect timing. It’s the same as being in a media scrum, chasing a celebrity or getting the handshake photo at the end of a football game. You have to guess the right position, move quickly when the opening comes and get the shot in the one moment when it is available.

The New Platypus

The official hoodie from the 1999 Platypus Workshop

In 1999, Dirck Halstead and PF Bentley hosted the first Playtpus Workshop, a program designed to train still photographers in the techniques of video production. It was primarily a group of experienced photojournalists, including several Pulitzer winners. I was very lucky to be a student in that class and later a teaching assistant in 2008.

The workshops have been popular and the latest will be in Las Vegas April 2-11. Dirck is very generous to credit me with naming the workshops years ago. In fact, the credit should probably reside more with Dirck than me since it was his vision that created the workshops.

The gem of the platypus came from a message board discussion in 1997, in the days of AOL and dial-up modems. I posted a note about the platypus and how when it was discovered, the scientific community thought it was a hoax because it didn’t fit their definitions of how animals were classified.

Fly on the Wall

So here’s another metaphor (idiom?) that bugs me. At a  conference the accomplished, talented photojournalists talk about how they approach their subjects. They talk about how they want to fade into the background in order to capture candid moments. They want to be “like a fly on the wall.”

"La Dolce Vita" on a laptop

Their intent is good. The photographer doesn’t want to direct, pose or influence the story. They want to photograph reality as it happens. But the fly on the wall is such a bad metaphor.

Danica and the Fans

Fans and media surround Danica Patrick after the Lucas Oil Slick Mist 200. photo by Tom Burton/Orlando Sentinel ©

This photo of Danica Patrick after her first official stock car race is goofy in a fun way because of the guy on the left side of the photo, pushing his way in to get a photo of himself with the celebrity driver. There’s no way to know if his photo was any good, but you can tell he is enjoying the chase.

The “media scrum” around the famous person of the moment can be scary and these days there are a lot more civilians in the mix. The camera technology makes it easier and cheaper for anyone to get photos. So what’s the difference between the official media and the civilians?