With any photograph of a runner-runners-running-moving-racing, I aim to make the viewer feel like they were there. I want to give even a small inkling of the sensation of a stampede thundering past the bunting that is flapping in the wind while a literal storm approaches. To capture the heat attaching to dust particles, filling the air with a throat-dry wind. I want to slow down time and allow the viewer to see the wince on a runner's face as their eyes anticipate the next step and their shoulders move from relaxed to lifted and tense. And I want to show Melpomene and Thalia 🎠mask-like faces coming over the line. Either tragically collapsing or comedically relieved that it's all over.
Here is a series from the recent World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, NSW. An event that drew some of the top runners from across the globe to compete in one of the toughest competitions and brutally exhausting courses.
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