There still are great riders and good riding, but just as much focus is now put on sponsors products and brands as the riding itself, which kind of disgusted me.The Banked Slalom is an experience of the polar opposite mentalityits about the riding, the mountain, the people, and the test of how well you can turn your snowboard. The replica Louis Vuitton watch purpose in this photo project was to really give viewers a accurate sense of what a snowboard event should (and can) be about. I also wanted to give more focus to the faces, the personalities, the thoughts behind these influential riders we often see from a distance, up in the air, totally covered in goggles and clothing.
So I guess the general aim of the project was to strip things down to the most pure, and humanistic, elements possible. What was the hardest part of this shoot for you?The hardest part, by far, was getting a decent action shot AND portrait of each rider. Id shot many snowboard events, but Id never been to the Banked Slalom before. At other events, the replica Breitling watches riders, when waiting around for their turn to drop on course, usually freeride nearby or just sit at the top of the course, so theres ample time to do portraits, experiment with different angles, etc.But the Banked Slalom is only a twoday event held on a big mountain, so all these riders Id hoped to unhurriedly shoot were only around for about onetotwo hours daily during their specific heats.
The rest of the time, they were freeriding with their buddies. To add to the pressure, Id set up a little 4x5 studio inside a white staging tent at the top of the course, but had to hustle downcourse to shoot the action shots. All at the same time. So a lot of waiting, then a crazy little hustle for two hours. I got a workout that weekend, running up and down the replica Cartier watches mountain through powder, my Mamiya 645 camera in hand, hoping I wouldnt take a dive.In the end, I managed to get a portrait, an action shot, and an audio quote from all the riders on my mental ‘shot list, which I had set up before the event. Id never thought about it until now, but I suppose the whole project of 22 images plus quotes was shot in about… five hours.
