celebrating "the athlete"

photo of greg lougains via si.com's walter iooss, jr. photo gallery.

"louganis was one of the biggest stars in the olympics. i had photographed him three or four times, but i never seemed to get the picture i wanted. so i went out to mission viejo, calif., where he trained, and i asked him to go off the platform at twilight. when I started to edit the chromes, there was one i'll never forget. the lights that illuminated the pool had made streaks, and the sky -- the red and the black -- mixed together. of course louganis was diving down, but i flipped the photo so it looked as if he were coming out of the flames of hell, like dante's inferno. i thought it was one of the best pictures i'd ever seen. when i brought this picture to show louganis, i was so proud of myself. i said, "greg, look at this." he said, "i'm bent," handed it back to me and walked away. where i saw a once-in-a-lifetime picture, he saw failure in his form. i was humiliated by the world's greatest diver."
--walter iooss, jr.

many years ago, there was an exhibit at newseum/ny called "replay! great moments from sports illustrated" -- i actually can't remember if it was a grand exhibit or a tightly curated one. i only remember that it was a big deal for me--all those very familiar images from the magazine presented in the "museum format" gave the photos--and the stories they told--their proper due. i was in awe.

sadly, the newseum no longer exists here. but on view at the newseum in washington, dc from now until the end of this year, is a similar exhibition, celebrating the career of sports photographer walter iooss, jr.

if you're any kind of sports fan, you know his work. he's been a sports illustrated photographer for more than 40 years, earning more than 300 covers (his first one at the age of 20, of phillies pitcher art mahaffey). if you're curious to see just how prolific he's been (and maybe how many of your favorite photos he's taken), check out a small sampling:

at si.com...
walter iooss jr's favorite shots, featuring maria sharapova (he caught one of the nicest expressions i've seen on her), bernard "the executioner" hopkins, dwight clark (his most famous shot?) and my favorite tennis player (i like his notes on the day)...

rafa, in 2006. photographed by walter iooss, jr. via "the walter iooss jr.'s favorite shots" gallery on si.com

''we did this one in a studio in new york, just before last year's u.s. open. we put a strobe on the floor to create the shadow behind him. he showed up with no wardrobe, so for an hour we shot him with no shirt on. then they finally brought some tennis clothes, so we had about five minutes left to get him in this outfit. he was a great kid with great energy, despite the language barrier. fun to watch.'' - walter iooss, jr.

bonus note: this was shot with a canon eos-1ds mark II, ef 24-105mm

and the more recent "walter iooss jr. gallery" (which specifically promotes the newseum exhibit), starring kg (yay!), kobe (eesh), a very flattering shot of serena williams (interesting commentary too), ali/frazier, and louganis.

there are a few more on the newseum site, as well as a bonus short video interview...

if you're interested to see much more, check out the companion book, the athlete...(or any of the others).