I recently did photos of a Dad about to ship out to Iraq for the next 14 months. His ex-wife was the one who hired me, which is incredibly special. They have two young sons who are going to miss their Dad so much. If anything happened to him, she wanted them to have special photos of them together. How wonderful is that? These boys love their Dad so much, I can’t imagine them not seeing him for over a year. Our kids change so much in that short time. I was honored to be able to spend time with such a great family and capture the love they all have for each other. I put the images up on a web gallery so the Dad can see them anytime while he is away. I am sending out a big wish that he comes home safe and early to his boys!
Amir has no ego, it is work and fun. I love watching these guys smiling through their training, enjoying the process. Amir’s next big fight is in the UK June 27th. A big thank you to Freddie, Amir and his Dad Shah for letting me hang out and photograph him.
I am not sure why, but I love to watch some ones hands being wrapped. I am not sure if it is the intimacy of it, or the zen moment, but it fascinates me. Watching Freddie Roach get his tape ready and the care that he takes with each hand is a pleasure. Watching MMA guys wrap is a different process, there is no gauze. Everyone has their own colours and tape, in their unique ritual. Some boxers use gaffer tape or electric tape. How do you decide how you will have your hands wrapped? One trainer who boxed for years told me the story of how he was late to arrive at a boxing match so they wrapped his hands in a hurry and badly. During the match he felt his hands breaking, but kept fighting through the pain. By the end he couldn’t even feel his hands striking. He won, but both hands were broken. He only tried to fight one time after they had healed. The bad wrapping ended his career. So the ritual, is incredibly important.
The Wild Card parking lot and being yelled at by the woman who runs the laundry downstairs is considered a rite of passage. I had some amazing conversations with trainers who have given me such great insight into boxing and boxers. Pictured Scottish Boxer Gary Young.
when we least expect it.
I first met Freddie Roach when I went to his Wild Card Gym to photograph MMA fighter Andrei Arlovski. Freddie was the boxing coach on Andrei’s dream team. I was taken by many aspects of Freddie. He is not what you would expect for the trainer to champions like Manny Pacquiao, Mike Tyson and Oscar de la Hoya. Freddie is a small quiet man with his black rimmed glasses. He got in the ring to train Andrei and became a focused laser to get his fighter to punch harder and not hesitate for a second. I knew I wanted to do a portrait of Freddie. I love the back wall in his gym, the private place where fighters train. It is tagged with Wild Card in great graphics. I knew that first day I would shoot him on that wall. The Wild Card is a classic old school boxing gym. The walls are covered in famous fighters photos, boxing gloves hang all along one wall…it’s classic right down to the smell that hits you when you enter…sweat and determination in equal parts. Freddie is charming and sweet and gave us Wild Card T shirts when we left. We will wear them proudly!
I love El Capitan Canyon. It is the perfect get away. Cash and I head up there twice a year just to refresh and unplug. It is past Santa Barbara in Goleta.They have cabins with big fluffy beds and safari tents with the same. The beach is across the street and has some of the most beautiful water colour skies.We sit around the firepit at night and roast marshmallows under the stars. I have passed on the fine art of peeling the marshmallow in layers.Cash brought his Ukulele and our neighbors loved it! We always finish the trip with a great hike up the hills and come home feeling shiny and new.www.elcapitancanyon.com
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