Wayne Gretzky’s overused quote comes to mind. “I skate to where the puck is going, not to where it’s been,” he famously said. Imagine legendary Sports Illustrated photographer Walter Iooss at work. He had to anticipate where he thought Gretzky was going or when he thought Mickey Rivers would try to steal a base and beat them there.
That’s the key to successful sports photography as it is to photojournalism in general. The best photojournalists are always asking themselves what’s going to happen next and positioning their lenses accordingly. That anticipatory skill requires a knowledge of the sport your shooting or the rhythms of the street or human nature itself.
True enough. The “G.O.A.T.: The Sports Photography of Walter Iooss” exhibit at the Fitchburg Art Museum in Massachusetts certainly captures Iooss’ extraordinary ability to anticipate the action and not merely follow it. Just witness his 1975 shot of the Yankees' Mickey Rivers attempting to steal second base on the Reds' Joe Morgan, his image of a backstroke swimmer at the 1984 Olympics, or Chris Evert returning a volley at the 1978 U.S. Open.
Yet, it's Iooss' portraits that steal the show. I had never before seen his 2003 shot of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, once enemies fondly embracing each other in their later years. A wall of portraits in Fitchburg was remarkable, displaying images featuring Tiger Woods (2008), Sugar Ray Leonard with Tommy Hearns (1989), Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1991), and the hilarious shot of the Pirates' Dave Parker (below, 1979) taking a drag on a cigarette in the Pittsburgh dugout. Smoking before, during, and after games was common until the 1980-90s.
The 80-year-old Iooss shot for Sports Illustrated for over 50 years and is considered among the greatest sports photographer of all time. Interestingly, he also shot for Atlantic Records from 1968 to 1972, producing iconic images of James Brown, Jimi Hendrix, and Janis Joplin. The greats in photojournalism both capture history and live it.
