Soccer Shots

The cheapest seats (actually they were freebies) to see the Australia Ghana football game meant an obstructed view of the football field with the players dots in the distance most of the time.

So how then did I persuade the National Library of Australia to purchase five images taken on the night for its permanent collection?

As the seats filled up around me, it became clear that I had a ringside seat to watch an amazing spectacle: the Ghanaian supporters who had clearly decided this was the night to celebrate being Ghanaian. This meant Ghanaian flags, trumpets, court jester outfits, dancing, curly yellow hair wigs, Ghanaian flags painted on fingernails and the Ghanaian national colours on every shirt.



All of this was begging to photographed but how to be unobtrusive? Having my nine year old son with me helped. So did the stadium lighting - its luminance coupled with my digital camera that can literally see in the dark meant there was no need for flash photography - I was able to shoot at 800 ASA, my aperture set to f3.3 and my shutter speed set to 1/180th second. As for focussing, I didn't use the viewfinder at all, simply aiming the camera from my waist and relying on the 'focus on nearest subject' mode.

The party began in earnest at kick off but as the night progressed, and it became clear that Ghana wasn't going to win, the mood turned to despair. So immersed were the Ghanaians in the tragedy that I was able to take beautifully poignant portraits.



More of these images may be seen at www.johnslaytor.com.au/img/flashsports/ghanasoccer/index.html.

The night taught me that my camera, despite its size, was able to be completely invisible and thus allowed me to be photographically in the moment. The night also taught me to seize the moment by appreciating my immediate surroundings, not those elsewhere I had intended to appreciate.