Walter Iooss Jr.

One photographer I found that I would like to resemble in my work is Walter Iooss Jr.. As of now, I dont have his whole life story, but from the photos I've viewed, I find a lot of qualities that I hope to present through my own. There are a lot of things I admire about him, one being the amount of years he's worked in the field, just in Sports Illustrated alone, he's worked 40 years. His first assignment, as I've read, was in high school, where he was asked to follow Roger Maris in his attempt to break Babe Ruth's Home Run record. Thats a pretty exciting first assignment. I might also mention he's also covered 40 consecutive super bowls. More or less, in my career, I'd want to work to become as respected of a sports photographer as Walter Iooss has. I can only imagine covering such prestigous sporting events as those, might I add free admission.

I really enjoy the style that appears through Iooss's images, I feel it is very important for a photographer or artist to find their style. This is what sets them apart from the artists before them, and the ones after. I can't say I've even come close to finding mine, it all comes with the more experience you get, and lots of shooting. Sometimes you don't define a style and work within those boundaries, it just comes to people's attention over the extent of bodies of work, just kind of comes out of nowhere. To me, style is adapted, it happens from countless shooting, it comes like a second nature, its just how you view the world through your camera.

I find that Iooss uses a lot of color and environment within his images. For example, the photo at Fenway (second photo), uses the red lighting from the incandescent field lights and the red score board. In front of Jim Rice, the right fielder, there appears a haze, which seems to be the pitchers mound, framed at a lower angle. The framing and lighting help give the picture an evil, hellish mood, or just giving the theme that they are the Red Sox. Also, I love the touch of adding the old Fenway Park scoreboard, instead of using the low aperture to blur it out, adds a lot of history, which is flowing through the Red Sox's stadium.

I also really enjoy the last photo I have posted, which is Ken Griffey Jr.. Eventhough this isn't an "action" shot, I really liked Iooss's use of low angle and lighting to set the mood of the image. The use of color is what grabbed my attention, using the similar hues of blue, rather than maybe an orange from a sunset, which would give a greater contrast of colors. I like the use of blacks, how most of the figure seems to get lost in the bleachers behind, which doubles for the bat behind swung through the air. I can only assume this was a posted shot, because of the low angle and the reflection card that would've had to be used to get the detail of the face and clothing. But his ideas are great.

The first photo shows more action, and more use of depth, eventhough blurred out. I feel the low angle used in this shot gives more sense of field behind the player sliding into 3rd, using the green foreground and the blue bleachers in the back, theres a lot of color to help contrast with the player, allowing the action to stand out more. These simple devices such as: color, aperture, and atmosphere help draw the viewer in, personally gives me a better sense of being in the action, which I highly enjoy.

Overall, i guess to sum up my interests in Walter Iooss Jr., I just wish to create as impressive imagery as he has done throughout the years, maybe even gain close to the respect he has in the sports photography field. The possibilities of being surrounded by such sports and asked to document the experience only drives me to work more, in hopes that i can reach the same prestige.