In the Bubble

"Alex Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals warms up before playing against the Boston Bruins at Capital One Arena on February 1, 2021 in Washington, DC."

With sports pretty much fully returned since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, not all is how it used to be.

For most professional and college sports, photographers are out into different tiers away from the field of play. This mostly means, the snappers are put into spectator seating far from the atheltes. 

However, some sports there has been no change. One of them is the hockey. While modified in that not all of the ice level cut out holes are available, photographers are close.

We've taken advantage of this and I've even pulled out the circular fisheye lens to try something different. A bubble view of the game if you will.

Surgical Start

"Arsenio Bustos looks on in his protective face covering worn due to the Covid-19 pandemic before he competes in the Men's 200 Meter IM during Day Four of the TYR Pro Swim Series at SwimRVA at the Collegiate School Aquatics Center on January 17, 2021 in Richmond, Virginia"

A clean background is most often your ticket to a compelling image.

During the TYR Pro Swim Series at SwimRVA, action is obviously the image we are seeking. But living in a pandemic, I have this deep interest in capturing how we are competing during this health crisis.

Masks are a clear historical visual reference. And like so many other sports, athletes wore them until it was time to dive off of the blocks.

Having a clean background with a color palate matched surgical masks was a perfect way to document this event. 

One day we'll look back at these images knowing how we all adapted to keep athletes in action.

Rise Up

 

"Michael Fisher Sr., lifts his son, Michael Fisher Jr., to dunk a basketball at the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue on January 15, 2021 in Richmond, Virginia."

Being on the road can often mean spending time with no one except yourself.

In January while covering a multiple day swim meet, I found myself with excessive free time. Instead of sitting around all day waiting for action to resume, I decided to roam around Richmond.

Erected in 1890, and standing 60 feet high, Richmond's graffitied statue of Robert E. Lee now serves as reminder of last year's racial justice movement. Art work, graffiti and memorials call out racial equity and take stand for social injustice.

I found it powerful to spend some time there photographing what I saw. 

It's one thing to read and photograph everything displayed. But being able to connect a human element to this display really helped communicate what the community has done here and serve as real reminder when the statue is removed in the future.