Football

Had a few nice photos of Brett Favre's first appearance at Giants Stadium in a pre-season game. Via Getty, these ran in a magazine called "The Player's Club" published by Lenny Dykstra. Who knew?

I used to wonder what motivates a guy like Brett Favre to keep playing football and now I like to think it's because there's nothing else he'd rather do. I'm no huge football fan, but I think there's something kind of noble about that.

I remember shooting Lance Armstrong running across the Verrazano Bridge the first time he ran the New York City Marathon. For no reason that I can figure out, he was easy to pick out of the throngs of runners bunched up at the start. Maybe Lance couldn't not compete and that's why he was there. I'm fairly sports-averse, but I can translate the persistence these guys demonstrate into a little inspiration for myself.

Close Up

The demise of printed media seems to be well underway. I know I've got many more images (mostly stolen) floating around the internet than I'll ever see printed anywhere. Which is sad for so many reasons. Personally, there's a great feeling that comes with seeing my work covering two pages in a big magazine like Sports Illustrated. At the very least, it's a boost to my ego. I can go to a newsstand or wherever and pick it up and look at it while I wait in line to pay. I can study the moment in the image and hold it closer to my eyes. And try to figure out what an editor saw in my work and how to do it all over again.

Fanfest

I gotta admit...it was uncommonly gratifying to see people, Yankee fans even, enjoying the big pose-with-the-team photo I did. When I went by the Javits to see it, there was a line about 60 people long waiting to stand in. Further support for the notion that if you can't be an athlete, be an athletic supporter.

Class Picture

I had to shoot a team picture of the New York Yankees to be used in conjunction with All-Star festivities here in New York. The job was to make three photos to be enlarged to life-size so that fans could stand shoulder to shoulder amidst the players to have their pictures taken at Fanfest. Mariano Rivera stepped in to make sure everyone looked pretty.

Slip Slidin' Away

Sports are supposed to be fun. I guess there's the drive to compete and win, and earn...but it seems to me that camaraderie and group foolishness might be more important. Texas Rangers use the Shea Stadium infield tarp as a slip-n-slide during a rain delay in Flushing.

ESPN the Magazine - 6.30.08