Seattle Sounders
On assignment at CenturyLink Field in Seattle for the match between the Seattle Sounders and the Houston Dynamo.
A match in photos.
My first foray into paid photography work came by way of a commision from Major League Soccer, the domestic football league in the USA. The MLS had been a client of mine for a few years working together with the creative team to create some truly fun and unique animations. They were in the process of launching a new initiative where creatives from different cities would cover the matches in different ways, mostly through photography, but with varying styles. Thanks to my continuing relationship with the marketing team at MLS, I was the first one to call when they wanted to trial their new program in Seattle with the next match between the Seattle Sounders and the Houston Dynamo.
I was both excited and nervous at the prospect. I had long loved documentary photography, traveling through Morocco, India, and Japan always with my camera in my hand capturing the cities and people that lived in them. However, covering a game felt different to me as there would be unique moments scattered throughout that I wanted to capture but I would be unaware as to when they would happen. A goal celebration by a player, the joy on the faces of supporters, both things happening unannounced and at different places. The MLS gave me a lot of freedom as to how I wanted to cover the game, leaving me free to impart my own style into the documentation of the day. I knew right away that I wanted to focus more on the people, on the feeling of being in the stadium on game day rather than taking the classic telephoto sports photos. So, with my trusty X-Pro and Leica M3 around my neck, I set off to the stadium about four hours before kickoff to start attempting to discover what I wanted to capture.
The first few hours were low pressure, focused on discovering what actually went on before a match. It was a first for me wandering around aimlessly as the vendors rolled in kegs of beers, stewards swept up the bleachers, and workers went around placing the leaflets in every seat of the 70,000 person stadium. It was raining, providing a misty atmosphere, but bright under the floodlights. As kickoff neared, the supporters gathered in Pioneer Square to start the march, people began to filter in, bands began to play, and chants started to fill the air. Before I knew it, the stands were filled up, drums beating, hands clapping as the players spilled out onto the field.
As the first whistle blew, I found myself at ease, calmed by the slow ease into the day that I had. Around my neck was an all access pass, and as a lot of people will understand, when you can go anywhere you want, it can be hard to decide where to go at all. I started making the rounds of the stadium as chants and screams echoed around me. I went up to the top stands, down into the supporters section, along the club level, and down into the press area. I was constantly in motion during the 90 minutes of the match, just observing, taking photos in passing, trying to get a feel for the whole of the stadium. To my delight, both as a supporter and as a photographer, the Sounders scored three goals that night - providing plenty of chances to see the cheers, the joy, the flames roaring out from behind the goal. I wanted to capture a wide range of people there to see the game. The security staff, the families in the top row, the passionate supporters, and the casual observers alike.
By the time the second half rolled around, I made my way down to the field. I had spent the whole of the first half in the stands with the supporters, but I knew I wanted to fill out my coverage of the experience with some time on the sidelines. I felt that I might be slightly held back by my lens - a 35mm manual focus lens. Shooting with a rangefinder next to a wall of photographers with modern DSLRs that shoot 15 frames per second with precise autofocus and 600mm lenses was definitely a unique experience, and one of the times in my life I have perhaps felt most out of place. However, as luck would have it, as I was posted up by the corner flag, the sounders scored a goal and I captured what is easily my favorite picture of the night. From the field, the screens projecting the word 'GOAL' all over the stadium, the four players embracing in celebration - it was everything I was looking for in a photo. It captured the feeling of the moment for me. Using the 35mm lens ended up being an advantage as it placed the scene at a human scale. The vintage lens smearing the background in a slight circular pattern drawing the observer deeper into the photo. The moment on the field gave me a huge sense of satisfaction and purpose. There is always a need for high quality and close up action shots, but there is something about the photos taken on an old rangefinder and vintage lens that feels more personal, human, and enlightening of the moment in which it was taken.
At the final whistle.
As the final whistle blew and the crowds started to file out of the stadium, my work was drawing to a close. The bands played, people laughed, and the stands slowly drained out of the exit doors. What began as my first foray into commission work became one of my greatest experiences of cementing why I love photography and why I use the medium in the way that I do. Looking at the pictures now, even years later, I am still transported back to that moment. They are not the most perfect pictures. Not the sharpest or most perfectly exposed, but they tell the story of a place and time. They capture an emotion that I find harder and harder to find in digital photography these days. This experience solidified my perspective and my passion for telling stories. In this instance, it was with a camera. In others, it is with a mouse and keyboard. But I think the core idea always stays the same - communicating a feeling.