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Clive Brunskill - Photographer in Focus (24-Nov-04)

Clive Brunskill is an award-winning photographer best-known for his sporting imagery who has worked with celebrities from the sporting and entertainment worlds. This year has been a busy one for Brunskill with the Athens Olympics Games. He talks to us about his early beginnings taking pictures at the skate park and the pressures of getting the perfect shot of Britney, Pink and Beyonce with three minutes on the clock.

Age: 40
Location: Northampton, England
Birthplace: Liverpool

Getty Images' collections signed to:
News, Sport & Entertainment; Assignment

Personal fact unrelated to photography:
He enjoys keeping fit, running four miles every other day and weight lifting four times a week. Aiming to do a half marathon (the Great North Run) next year "if the body holds out".

Awards won: Well over 20.
1996: 'UK Sports Photographer of Year' & 'UK Sports Picture of Year'
1999: 'Nikon Sports Photographer of Year'
1990: 'Kodak Sports Photographer of the Year'
1994, 1995 and 2001: 'Stella Artois Tennis Photographer of Year'
1982: 'Young Football Photographer of Year'
Runner up in Nikon Sports Photographer of Year' three times Runner up in 'UK Sports Photographer of Year' twice

2004: The latest in the long list was runner up in the 'UK Fuji Fashion Photographer of the Year' (for his picture of David Beckham at the Pepsi ad shoot)

What equipment do you use?
"A Canon Digital D1 Mark 2 for editorial and I've been using black and white Polaroid 55 film with my 5" by 4" camera and a Mamyia RZ Pro 2 6x 7" for advertising."

How did you become a photographer?
"I have always wanted to be a photographer. Ever since I was 11 or 12 I wanted to get into photography, I took pictures at the local skate park. One of my friends had a camera and a darkroom and I borrowed his until I was bought a camera for my thirteenth birthday and made a little darkroom which was a board over the bath. I got the trays and an enlarger and taught myself printing and developing in black and white. The chemicals stained the bath in the end but my parents were pretty supportive."

He studied photography at Southport College of Art, near Liverpool, for two years and left college just before 18, "I was one of the youngest in my year." It was while he was at college that he won the Pentax Young Football Photographer of the Year 1982. "I was lucky but I also believe you make your own luck. I used to go to the local football ground every weekend between the ages of 14 and 16 years old, I'd cover the local matches with a little camera. I won the competition because I had put in that effort, without it I wouldn't have got the award."

The prize was a day out to a football (soccer) match, to see England-vs-Holland at Wembley, where he met professional photographers who ultimately helped him get his first job at the Bob Thomas Sports Photography Agency in Northampton at 17 years old.

For the first year at Bob Thomas he was working in the dark room, developing black and white prints, "There was no digital in those days," he reminds us. He then started shooting league football matches on Saturdays, then, in 1984, got his first trip abroad to cover an international game, Portgual-vs-Germany; "I thought I was in the big time," he recalls.

Later, he joined Allsport in 1993 and has been with them ever since, becoming part of Getty Images when they bought Allsport.

What made you want to become a photographer?
"I've always loved sport since I was a kid, I loved photographing football and tennis. Originally I wanted to be a press photographer but then decided to be a sports photographer."

Most demanding shot you have ever done?
"The Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan 98. It was really, really hard getting up early, it was cold, wet and horrible, especially shooting the skiing. Photography is all about getting there early, and good preparation. With sports photography you can't just arrive at last minute. You need to get the best position because there's always one or two positions that are better than anywhere else so you've got to be there hours before it starts. With skiing it can be five hours before the action starts so it means getting there at 7am."

At Athens, the men's doubles tennis final stands out as a particularly testing event. "It went from 9.30pm till around four in the morning. Everyone thought 'they won't start now because it's so late' and they did. It was a good final but despite the fact that it was so late it remained really hot." On the whole though, The Games were an enjoyable experience, "The Olympics are fantastic," Brunskill enthuses, "it's not a holiday but it's good. When you've got ten of you going to a bar to catch up, we're like a football team, we just don't behave like footballers!

What's your favourite picture?
"Mohammed Ali fighting Sonny Liston taken by Neil Leifer who worked for Sports Illustrated. Ali is standing over Liston. It's a great picture which has stood the test of time; it was taken in 1965 and it's still a great picture. The cameras they had to work with back then don't compare to what we have now and you have a picture like that. It's an incredible shot. Adidas is still using it for advertising today. It's an iconic image. You might get one of those a lifetime."

Asked if he has a favourite shot among his own collection he responds, "Blur's Parklife album cover shot is one of mine. It was taken at the dog track at Romford, in London. It got great exposure as it was used on T-shirts and billboards as well as the album."

Who or what are the major influences upon your work?
"In the early days it was Bob Thomas (also a Getty Images contributor), he was a very good football photographer. In the middle of my career it was Bob Martin who used to work for Allsport and now works for Sports Illustrated. Currently, it's Walter Iooss who also works for Sports Illustrated."

Do you find that your style changes?
"No, not really because with editorial you shoot what happens. You just try and do good photography. When the action is taking place you shoot as much as you can or need to. Sometimes you get a surprise result. It doesn't happen all the time but sometimes the best pictures are the ones you get by surprise, by a little bit of luck.

What's your favourite use of a picture?

"My favourite this year is the Nike 'Love it or Leave it' billboard campaign in New York around the US Open final. I shot twelve different tennis players including Andre Agassi but the one I liked is Maria Sharapova. It was a portrait of her against a white background. In print beside it they listed all the things she loves about the game of tennis. What they did with it was really clever."

Who are the best sports stars to work with?
"I enjoy working with David Beckham, Andre Agassi and Maria Sharapova, they are great to work with - very professional. I judge people that I shoot by how professional they are. People who stand out for me are those who give you the time agreed on and give you everything in that time."

What would be your dream shoot?
"I'm slowly moving across from editorial sport to advertising, that's what I really want to do. After 22 years of doing sport I've got to the point where I want to change and progress as a photographer. I'm very interested in advertising and the industry so I'm pushing very hard in that direction. The key is to keep the clients you've got and try and get more over the years. I'd love to work for Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren Polo Sport brand, to do the sports fashion shots. I'm going to try London or New York fashion week next year but I don't think that will appeal to me as much as actually doing an ad as a set up shoot."

Latest Assignments?
“I’m in Houston at the moment shooting the Tennis World Championship. It’s been a busy year during which I’ve been travelling for four or five months,” he says. “Last week I was in Los Angeles on an advertising job shooting a tennis player for Adidas.”

He has been doing a lot of advertising work, having just finished two big Pepsi shoots (the celebrities of which cannot be revealed until next year when the ad is released). Shooting for big brands like Pepsi, Nike and Adidas has given him access to sports stars including David Beckham, Andre Agassi and Anna Kournikova. Last year, thanks to Pepsi, he was working with big name pop stars including Beyoncé, Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias and Pink.

It may sound glamorous but Brunskill is under no illusions, "The Pepsi Music shoot in Rome was really hard work. I had to do a shot of Beyoncé, Britney Spears and Pink together. It was really pressurised, the clients are hanging over your shoulder and you've got two minutes to get this picture. It's really difficult to get them together - one of them has to do an interview, another one's filming. I just thought 'I can't blow it otherwise I'll get the sack!!!!'. We got a really nice picture out of it, it looks like it was shot with plenty of time but it was hard work."

Working with big name stars must be intimidating?
"If you get star struck by these people you make a right hash of it," he says. "You just have to be yourself." His attitude is resolutely down-to-earth, "They're just sports people and you get used to working with them. They get to know you so they feel comfortable which makes it easier to shoot."