insideKENT Magazine Issue 88 - July 2019 | Seite 32

ARTS+ENTERTAINMENT
LUCY MOHR P H O T O G R A P H Y
CONT.
Paul Car ney and J ames Cook, w ho oversaw the
project, asked if I would photograph the athletes in
locations that were in and around Canterbury and
which portrayed what is unique and special about
life there. The idea was to sho wcase not just ho w
talented these athletes are (and they are seriously
talented), but also to show what a beautiful area this
is to live in (especially for people considering moving
here to study). We wanted to give people an idea of
what it would be like to live here and what the area
has to offer.
I was very lucky to have a client that allowed a lot
of my own artistic vision and who were incredibly
supportive of the work I produced. Creatively, it has
been very exciting to take sports people out of their
comfort zones and present them in a new light. For
some of the athletes it was quite a leap of faith to
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trust me taking them into an un usual loca tion;
standing on the chairs at The Marlowe Theatre, or
becoming part of the set in The Canterbury Tales,
were just a couple of the out-of-the-norm places we
found ourselves in.
For me, photographing people who commit their
lives to their passions was genuinely inspiring. They
show such dedication and there is so much sacrifice
involved to get to their level of sport and for many,
this is just the beginning in terms of what they hope
to achieve – many hope to compete in the Olympics
and Gloria will be competing in the Olympics f or
the third time in Tokyo.
For each individual shoot, I'd spend a few da ys
leading up to it researching ideas. I'd look at as many
works of art as I could studying light and composition,
and I'd also stud y top sport photog raphers.
Afterwards, I w ould tr y and f orget e verything
I'd seen and hope tha t somew here in the shoot
there would be a collision of the perfect moment
and m y pr eparation. Time of da y pla ys a v ery
important role in terms of lighting, but often it was
simply impossible for diaries to ma tch up and I'd
often be working in the worst light available – the
midday sun.
I absolutely couldn't have completed the work without
a lighting assistant and I was very lucky to find Saskia
McArthur. I've been training her up to learn about
lighting and her na turally kind and helpful
demeanour went a long way in making the athletes
feel at ease.