In any sports publication around the world you will probably see this sports photographer Quinn Rooney; he has worked for a variety of different sports magazines, covering everything from the Olympics, the Australian Open, the Swimming Worlds Championships, Formula 1, World Rally championships and the World Cup. He is known for capturing moments in time that the naked eye could never capture. He also works for Getty Images.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 16: A Competitor runs out of the waterduring the U19 men's Surf Race during the Victorian State Surf Lifesaving Championships at Jan Juc on March 16, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.
What drew me to this photographer is how he creates stunning silhouettes. As you can see from the photographs you can see so much detail from subject. Usually it is just an outline. The sky behind most of the pictures are so dramatic, especially the one with the girl riding the horse. It looks as if he has just pasted her into the photo, as she is silhouetted out perfectly and the sky is so dramatic. I am unsure if any of his photographs have been heavily Photoshopped as there isn’t much information about him. I think if it has it might have been to make the sky more dramatic. I think it works really well, and they are just stunning photographs.
MANSFIELD (VICTORIA), AUSTRALIA - MARCH 08: A rider prepares to race in the Barrel racing during the Australian Professional Rodeo Association (APRA) Merrijig Rodeo on March 8, 2008 in Mansfield, Australia.
SANUR, INDONESIA - OCTOBER 26: A competitor runs into the water during the Women's Triathlon on day nine of the 2008 Asian Beach Games at Mertasari Beach on October 26, 2008 in Bali, Indonesia.
The photograph with the woman running in to the sea, I love the fact that he has got right into the action and there is even water slashing up. I think that is why he is so well known for his work as he really gets into the sport, enabling him to get the best shots and especially those that we would miss, he really does cross the boundary of just taking photographs of people in different sports and actually getting into the action.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 21: The team from Germany compete in the Men's Team Pursuit during day two of the UCI Track World Cup at Hisense Arena on November 21, 2008 in Melbourne, Australia.
The next set of photographs that I have looked at is ones where he has created unusual lighting to create again some really dramatic looks. This was done by using an off-camera flash with a homemade snout, which was then mounted on the outside of tracks or at the side where ever they are. I think they are so different to any sports photography that I have ever seen. I think most of these photographs were done when the athletes were training.
This sort of work reminds me of Philip-Lorca diCorcia and his series ‘Heads’. He is known for redefining street photography and his ‘Heads’ series was done by a flash hooked onto scaffolding and when people walked past them it triggered them off, which enabled him to capture his subjects with a long lens camera. The whole idea behind this series was to hide the flashes and also himself so the subjects were unaware of being observed and photographed, which shows spontaneity and unpredictable form of image-making. Charlotte Cotton’s book says “the result is a heightened, revelatory experience of being able to take a sustained look at what ordinarily passes us by, and a form of photographic portraiture in which the subjects are entirely unable to influence their representation.”
Head #7 2000
This type of lighting does make the photograph look staged because obviously there must have been a lot of planning and setting up. The lighting reminds me of a spotlight on a stage, and the people in his photographs do look like actors that have been snapped while they are midway through a play. The lighting is so bright that it has blacked out the background, so I think that is why I think it looks like a stage play as there is no setting. It looks very contemporary, like they are in the middle of a monologue. Also by the way that they are all dressed differently it is like they are characters and you can almost make out the different characteristics they might have.
Head #23 2000
