Wednesday, October 25, 2017 // The Statement 
7B

Personal Statement: Capturing the small sports

W

e’re all taught at a very 
young age that great results 
come from hard work and 

perseverance. Athleticism has always fas-
cinated me, and it’s safe to say that most 
of America feels this way, too. We spend 
hours of our Saturdays glued to the TV 
watching football games. We stay up late 
if our teams are playing in different time 
zones. Sports culture is enormous in the 
United States, and this rings especially 
true at the University of Michigan.

As a senior at the University, I’ve done 

an obscene amount of self reflection 
these past few weeks. More specifically, 
reflecting on my time at The Daily and 
memories of some of the biggest trips 
I’ve taken to cover athletics: to Joe Louis 
Arena for the last “Duel at the D” in histo-
ry, to Kansas City (which isn’t actually in 
Kansas) to see Oregon defeat Michigan in 
the Sweet Sixteen by one point, to Iowa to 
see the Hawkeyes defeat the Wolverines 
by one point. These were all exciting and 
monumental moments in my photogra-
phy career, but I find myself reflecting on 
small, less popular sports as some of the 
pinnacle moments in crafting my images. 
I believe it will always be the less popular 
sports like women’s basketball, lacrosse 
or tennis, that I can accredit to my suc-
cess.

There are certain photos you have to 

capture at major sports like football, 
basketball or hockey. There’s immense 
pressure to get these photos because cap-
turing the biggest moments of action are 
critical. If you fail, it’s obvious; your pub-
lication doesn’t feature the shots. While 
I am always grateful to be able to cover 
football or men’s basketball, it oftentimes 
feels as though the creative, storytell-
ing aspect isn’t as important as getting 
these game-specific shots. If you miss 
a touchdown or scored point, your work 
doesn’t seem to hold as much credibil-
ity compared to someone who captured 
every pivotal moment in a game. While 
this pressure creates incredible oppor-
tunities for growth in the field of sports 
photography, I sometimes feel as though 
my creative voice is lost in the demand 
for specific photographs. Though photo-
graphing the big sports provides a unique 
wave of energy, I often prefer the intima-
cy of smaller ones.

I can still remember my first time walk-

ing into the Crisler Center to photograph 
women’s basketball — it was my first 
time photographing a Michigan Athletics 
event. I’m sure I looked like I had no idea 
what I was doing (two different event staff 
asked if I knew where I was going), but I 
was determined. Even though this was an 

important game against Michigan’s bit-
ter rival Ohio State, hardly any photog-
raphers were present. The atmosphere in 
Crisler felt relaxed, but I still felt the need 
to purely capture action shots.

During my second basketball game a 

few weeks later, I walked into Crisler and 
noticed a sea of pink: pink jerseys, pink 
shoes, pink headbands, pink pompoms. 
I quickly learned it was the team’s annu-
al Pink Game, an afternoon spent pay-
ing tribute to those fighting or who have 
already fought against breast cancer. This 
was my second time taking photographs 
of a Michigan game. I snapped a few pho-
tos of the pink elements but figured they 
wouldn’t have much use because they 
weren’t action-related. During halftime, a 
Daily reporter found me on the court and 
said he was writing about the impact and 
importance of the Pink Game. He asked if 
I could try to capture as many pink-related 
photos as I could because they would add 
to the story. It seemed like a simple ges-
ture at the time, but this moment had a 
profound impact on my view of sports pho-

tography.

I still hold onto this moment today — it 

has taught me time and time again to cap-
ture stories beyond just the game itself. 
Though peak action shots are important 
to any given game, it’s equally as impor-
tant to tell a story with my photography 
— especially one that isn’t often told. The 
smaller sports at Michigan often don’t 
receive much publicity. As a photogra-
pher, I believe it’s part of my responsibil-
ity to give these teams the same attention I 
would the football, hockey and basketball 
teams.

With this in mind, I cover as many 

Michigan Athletics events as my schedule 
allows. My favorite is covering women’s 
gymnastics.

While popular sports like football 

present the challenge of capturing the 
perfect image of peak action, gymnas-
tics has its own set of challenges: find-
ing a unique angle that fully captures the 
event. Women’s gymnastics never fails 
to present me with this wonderful chal-
lenge of finding unique angles. Meets are 

always fast-paced, not taking any time for 
lengthy breaks in between events. With a 
challenge to create unique visual imagery 
with each different meet I photograph, 
this sport gives me tools to succeed in any 
other sport I’m shooting. If I feel myself 
getting too comfortable in a position on 
the hardwood floor, I force myself to move 
elsewhere to find a new angle. Though 
I’m not actually performing the difficult 
routines that gymnasts do, I perform to 
capture their grace and elegance in their 
athleticism. That is the challenge of story-
telling.

I’ve received photo credentials on behalf 

of The Daily to access places like Joe Louis 
Arena, the Sprint and Kohl Centers, and 
the Kinnick and Beaver Stadiums. Though 
I proudly display the fancy photo creden-
tials that hang on my wall, every other 
credential I’ve ever received from photo-
graphing Michigan Athletics events hangs 
right next to them, reminding me of all 
the smaller, intimate sports moments that 
have led me to where I am today.

by Zoey Holmstrom, Senior Photo Editor

ZOEY HOLMSTROM/Daily