JOHANN ANDRE FORFANG OF NORWAY COMPETES IN SKI JUMPING MEN’S LARGE HILL
PHOTO BY MATTHIAS HANGST/GETTY IMAGES
Though PyeongChang and the 2018 Winter Olympics are now behind us, the unforgettable performances of its athletes will be forever remembered thanks to the incredible photographs captured during the games. Since 1988 Getty Images has been the IOC Official Partner, entrusted with the responsibility of capturing every event from every angle, and making these images available to the public almost as soon as they happen.
For PyeongChang, Getty Images deployed an all-star roster of over 80 sports photographers, photo editors, and support staff to document each of the 102 Winter Olympic sports. Well before the Games began, approximately 80 kilometers of state-of-the-art fiber optic network were laid in preparation across the Olympic venues to connect the key photo positions back to the Main Press Center. Those views from the field were transferred to consumers in under a minute — .58 seconds to be exact.
From 159,266 total images available on Getty.com from PyeongChang, Ken Mainardis, Vice President of Sports Imagery and Services at Getty Images, and Stuart Hannagan, Vice President of Editorial at Getty Images made a selection of images for STYLE of SPORT they felt most represented the scope of imagery captured during the 2018 Winter Olympics. Here they are, along with commentary about why…
HANNAH PROCK OF AUSTRIA DURING WOMEN’S SINGLES LUGE
PHOTO BY QUINN ROONEY/GETTY IMAGES
“Olympic Games tend to be covered from every angle by broadcasters. The job of still photographers is to give a new perspective of the action for readers who have already seen that same action on TV. Quinn Rooney found a tiny patch of background through the trees at the sliding centre to create a sense of speed and a unique composition. This is an image that you would never see on TV.”
ADAM RIPPON OF THE UNITED STATES DURING MEN’S SINGLE FREE SKATE
PHOTO BY DEAN MOUHTAROPOULOS/GETTY IMAGES
“One of the challenges of photographing figure skating is to show the how dynamic the skaters are physically. An effective technique to do that is dropping your shutter speed. However, to execute that perfectly takes a lot of experience and the ability to keep your hand very still while holding a camera, which makes it a very physical picture to take.”
GOLD MEDALIST SHAUN WHITE DURING VICTORY CEREMONY
FOR SNOWBOARD MEN’S HALFPIPE FINAL
PHOTO BY CAMERON SPENCER/GETTY IMAGES
“Shaun White is one of the true giants of the Winter Olympic Games. Medal ceremonies can often be very formulaic photo opportunities. By waiting for just the right moment when White returned to the podium to acknowledge the crowd, Cameron Spencer was able to isolate his subject in an iconic pose that may well come to tell the story of his comeback success at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.”
LARA GUT OF SWITZERLAND CRASHES DURING THE LADIES GIANT SLALOM
PHOTO BY SEAN M. HAFFEY/GETTY IMAGES
“Bravery and photography are often associated with news photography. However, life on an Alpine course can be equally dangerous. Skier Lara Gut crashed out of the women’s giant slalom and careened into photographers shooting the action. Getty Images photographer Sean Haffey showed incredible cool and professionalism to capture this image moments before Gut collided with him and other photographers.”
NORTH KOREAN CHEERLEADERS AT
MEN’S 1500 SHORT TRACK SPEED SKATING QUALIFYING
PHOTO BY RICHARD HEATHCOTE/GETTY IMAGES
“The North Korean cheering squad that followed their team into these Games were one of the stars of the Games. Fans are always important, but their rarely seen choreographed cheering routines stole the show.”
NANA TAKAGI, MIHO TAKAGI AND AYANO SATO OF JAPAN
DURING SPEED SKATING LADIES TEAM PURSUIT FINAL
PHOTO BY ROBERT CIANFLONE/GETTY IMAGES
“Speed Skating Team Pursuit is all about symmetry and aerodynamics. The athletes go very fast and you have to be ready quickly to take a photo that captures it all.”
THOMAS BING OF GERMANY EXHAUSTED AT THE FINISH OF
CROSS-COUNTRY MEN’S SPRINT CLASSIC QUARTERFINAL
PHOTO BY AL BELLO/GETTY IMAGES
“This is my favorite image from the Games so far and showcases the skill of our editors as well as our photographers”, says Ken Mainardis. “The almost brutal endurance that cross country skiing requires is hard to convey on TV but by having the foresight to drop to snow level, photographer Al Bello was able to bring the viewer into the soul of Thomas Bing as he collapsed to the ground after the Men’s Sprint Classic Quarterfinal. The full frame image itself is very wide and shows the entire scene, however the skill and vision of editor Cliff Hawkins meant he was able to crop and create the focus on Bing’s exhaustion.”
ANASTAIA BRYZGALOVA FROM THE OLYMPIC ATHLETES OF RUSSIA
DURING THE CURLING MIXED DOUBLES SEMI-FINALS
PHOTO BY HARRY HOW/GETTY IMAGES
Sometimes colors mixed with lines and a basic movement can look different when shot from a slightly elevated angle. In this shot, Harry How has used the empty lanes to give a different perspective to a single person in a single lane.
ALLA TSUPER OF BELARUS CRASHES
DURING FREESTYLE SKIING LADIES AERIALS FINALS
PHOTO BY CLIVE ROSE/GETTY IMAGES
“Nothing beats the drama of a brilliant action photo taken at the height of impact as Alla Tsuper of Belarus shows landing head first into the snow. There is a series of images of this moment, but this frame taken by photographer Clive Rose shows the force and immense impact an athlete absorbs when things go horribly wrong.” (She was ok and finished 4th)
ALEXA SCIMECA KNIERIM AND CHRIS KNIERIM EMBRACE BEFORE
PAIRS SKATING SHORT PROGRAM ON VALENTINE’S DAY
PHOTO BY JAMIE SQUIRE/GETTY IMAGES
Emotion is everything in sport and at times photographers get a unique view of what is going on behind the scenes. Slightly off the field of play an embrace or hug between two athletes, in this case husband and wife, is an intimate look at the tension when an athlete is about to compete.
VLADYSLAV HERESKEVYCH OF UKRAINE
SLIDES INTO FINISH AREA DURING MENS SKELETON
PHOTO BY MATTHIAS HANGST/GETTY IMAGES
“I had to add this last one as one of my favorites”, says Claudia Lebenthal, Editor & Founder of STYLE of SPORT. There are sports many of us only see once every four years at the Olympics. Skeleton is one of them. Everything about this sport is incredible from these athletes hurtling themselves head first down an icy track at speeds of about 80mph to the bold, graphic, and colorful skintight uniforms and helmets they wear. They look like superheroes… and they are!”
