Interesting Career
Getting Around
and gave myself six months to learn to swim and run. I came to love triathlon, and that really got me into pro sport photography.”
Chris had started photography as a hobby in the 80s, in the days of film cameras, and taught himself by reading magazines bought at the CNA, in the days before online tutorials. Years later, after falling off his mountain bike, breaking a shoulder and being told he couldn’ t move his arm for 20 weeks, he missed the races so much that he took his camera to an event and started shooting.“ I really enjoyed it – even more than competing – so for the next two years I went out every weekend to shoot events, thinking I could make a living from it. Then the organisers of the BSG Tri Series saw my pics and asked me to shoot their national series. I had no idea how to quote for a job that size, but I got the job. So it all really started from breaking my shoulder!”
Interesting Career
Born in England, Chris and his family came out to South Africa when he was 11. While still at school and aged just 16, he played two years of professional soccer in what was then the national third division.“ I was paid the princely sum of 50 cents a match, which was huge money back then!” says Chris. He also got into rally car driving for 10 years, working up from
the amateur to pro ranks, and even managed a second place in the Western Province Rally Champs. Other than sport, Chris also had some interesting jobs over the years.
“ When I left school, I got into electronics and had a shop in Wynberg that sold and repaired appliances. At the same time, having complained to the police after a third break-in at my shop, they suggested I become a police reservist. Well, I took the challenge and ended up with the Flying Squad, and even did a SWAT course. I was one of only two people who got 100 % on the shooting course that year. However, I eventually got sick of the appliance business, because it wasn’ t challenging and I didn’ t want to do that for another 40 years, so I sold the business,” says Chris.
“ Next I started a paintball business, working just two days a week for four years, but then the industry exploded and quickly became oversubscribed, so I went back to electronics. I got into onboard computers for trucks, right at the beginning of the computer age, and was later bought out by a new Internet Service Provider( ISP) company, who appointed me to head up the launch. Today that company is known as Vox Telecom. After that I got into fulltime photography, which is what I’ ve been doing for the last six years.”
“ it helps knowing something about a sport in order to know what to look for, and where to position yourself on a course to get the best shots, and here Chris is well covered, since he is an experienced runner, rider and triathlete himself”
Getting Around
Now well established as one of the leading sports photographers in SA, Chris has had his work published in major magazines all over the world.“ I have also been privileged to photograph a wide range of top sports stars, from Springbok rugby captains to Olympians, and most of them are just ordinary, down to earth people, with a passion for what they do, and it is nearly always a pleasure to shoot them.”
However, it’ s action photography that gets Chris the most excited, and he says his favourite event to shoot is the Ironman triathlon in Port Elizabeth.“ My day starts at 4am and ends around 1am the next day, and I have to shoot all three legs, so I have to get to motorbike and helicopter pick-up points, all on foot, through thousands of spectators, while uploading and tagging pics! The biggest challenge in this job is knowing where to go to shoot. That’ s why I often ask organisers for a Google earth file of their route, so that I can pick spots where I think I’ ll get the best shots, then programme the co-ordinates into my GPS so that I can quickly hoof it there on race day. And that’ s why being fit really pays off!”
Swimming Reflection, Discovery Cape Town Triathlon Praying Grannie, Ironman 70.3
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