| Reflecting
our Sport
Our
sport is full of mystery and challenges which attract many of us
so profoundly that we dedicate our lives to this world. One of the
mysteries of skydiving is that it is almost impossible to explain
it to someone who has never jumped.
In order to share our sport
with others, we rely on photography. Skydiving photographers
become in a sense the translators of our sport, as the public can
only experience the emotion and beauty of skydiving through the
images reflecting it.
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Skydiving
photography used to be an area few jumpers were interested in
pursuing as the photographic equipment was either not available,
as in the case of video, or the equipment was extremely heavy and
complicated. Unless you had a great passion for photography, the
effort was unjustified. The skydiving photographers who were
translating our sport were so in love with photography that they
put up with whatever inconveniences and dangers that were
necessary to share their images with others. Why would you carry
the heavy equipment increasing your chance of injury unless you
really had a passion for photography?
Note that when I use the
word ‘photography’ I am including all forms of photography,
including stills, video and motion picture. Technical
advancements in photographic equipment have now made it possible
for just about anyone to carry a camera in freefall. Have you
noticed how many people have a camera on their head these days?
This has both advantages and disadvantages. One of the greatest
benefits is that it makes our sport more interesting to
non-jumpers because they now have a window into our world. Other
benefits include immediate feedback on a jump which is invaluable
for training students, record attempts etc.
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| There are disadvantages. When you think of the number of skydivers
carrying cameras today, it is impossible to believe that they are
all specialists in photography – but they are still producing
images that are being published and broadcast, thereby translating
our sport. I am not saying that only professional photographers or
people that are passionate about photography should be carrying a
camera, I am just saying that there are consequences to this
evolution. It is these consequences that I would like to explore
but to do this I must first explain what I mean by the word
translation.
In order to
produce an image the photographer needs a subject matter.
Sometimes the subject matter is there first and the photographer
comes to capture it and sometimes the photographer has an image of
what they want a photo to look like and organises the subject
matter to their vision. In my first skydiving film, Ride a
Cloud,
I was following skydivers as they built formations or competed,
trying to capture images of them |
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| and
I was often viewed as an intrusion. The skydivers I was filming
saw no value in my presence as there was no immediate feedback
(video) on their jump. If I wanted to share the footage I had to
do so with a film projector, so most of the jumpers would never
see how they looked until the project was completed. I was filming
whatever I could capture.
When the idea
of my film From Wings Came Flight was being developed the only way
I would consider proceeding with the project was if the skydivers
became my performers. This way I could choreograph the action and
I could do jumps multiple times to get different angles with which
to cut. I was interested in creating more than just a documentary;
I wanted to share my vision of skydiving – my translation.
When I capture
an image, I want it to be interesting to everyone, not just
skydivers. Even with jumpers, I am trying to appeal to the person
within the skydiver. For most of us a great picture is a picture
that we are in but, if you are not in the photo:
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-
Does it have enough artistic value to still be interesting?
- Is it unique?
- Most
importantly, does it have enough interest to capture someone’s
attention who knows nothing about our sport?
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| Often
my images are very artistic, but not an example of a successful
skydive. During the filming of From Wings Came Flight a large
formation funnelled, scattering bodies all over the sky. The plan
went wrong but, artistically there was an interesting picture
(above right). From a skydiver’s point of view it may not be seen as a
good photograph since there is not a complete formation but, from
a non-skydiving point of view, the photograph shows the human body
in different flight positions silhouetted across the sunset sky.
So from a funnel came a unique image that has been published both
within and outside the sport. If you can capture a person’s
interest making them aware of something special in our sport, even
if they cannot explain it in words, I believe this is where we can
add people to our sport. But often the images that are shared are
not inspiring. |
| As
I said before, the image a photographer captures is their
translation of our sport. That translation is made up of technique
and representation – or, more simply – what is being shot and
how it is being shot. For these translations to have an impact the
image must be shared and the greatest impact is usually in
published or broadcast form.
To many people
involved in the skydiving world, there is a concern about the
public’s view of our sport. In most cases the masses consider
skydiving to be a crazy sport for derelicts. For example, we have
tried many times to be admitted as an Olympic sport and have been
successful only in participating in the opening ceremonies, but
have never been considered a real sport. I think the reason for
this problem is that a lot of the images that people see of
skydiving are only interesting to skydivers. |
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I
observed a great example of this dilemma during my first
commercial job working for ABC’s Wide World of Sports as they
were covering the US National Championships in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
The skydiving community was thrilled because skydiving was finally
going on major network TV, which was great exposure for the sport.
The word was that ABC had purchased a five year option to cover
the US Nationals. As part of the camera team, I worked closely
with the director and got to see his reaction as he was exposed to
the world of skydiving. There was constant conflict between the
competitors and the ABC team. The director not only wanted to
capture the beauty and excitement of the sport, but the human
element as well, which meant close-ups and POV shots so it looked
like the cameraman was part of the formation. We were filming with
beta-cams then and they were huge, not like the lipstick cameras
that are available today. For one shot, the director wanted a
cameraman to go fifth in the line-up of a 10-way speed star as the
team exited but the teams said no way. They had not trained all
year to lose at the Nationals because someone with a monster
camera was in their way. This is understandable but, at the same
time, the director threw his hands up and said it was impossible
to film this sport and make it interesting, so subsequently ABC
did not renew their contract.
The
point of the story is not to blame anyone, as both sides were
right. But the impact to us is that, if our sport does not appear
interesting to the public, it will never grow. When it is not
seen, there is no impact. I am not saying that skydiving should
become like football where the rules are made to accommodate the
broadcasters, all I am pointing out is that this is one reason why
skydiving is not more popular with the public. For the people who
make their living within the skydiving industry an increase in
active jumpers would be a good thing – sales volume would go up,
making a larger market to purchase products, more money for
advertising, more money to put in research and development, more
choice of gear... But how would this happen, how are people that
are not skydivers drawn into the sport? The biggest way is through
photography which reflects our sport to the outside world. |
Article
and all images by:
Norman Kent
www.normankent.com
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