1. Please introduce yourself. Who are you? What do you do?

Hello, my name is Chris. My time is split between Sussex in England and Pembrokeshire in Wales and my photography reflects the landscape and life of those places. So a lot of coastal influences, but also sport, wildlife and street scenes. Whatever is there really. I prefer ‘out of season’ to avoid the crowds and capture the more dramatic conditions such as crashing waves or muddy pitches.

2. How long have you been into photography, and what drew you to it?

Since being at school in the 1970s.  Photography then involved as much time sloshing chemicals around in a darkroom as being outside taking pictures. But there was a magic in watching an image emerge from a blank sheet.

3. In one sentence, please describe what you captured in this shot.

An end of season match at East Grinstead Rugby Club in Sussex, England played in appalling conditions.

4. What style of photography would you describe this as and do you typically take photographs in this style?

Sports Photography but the picture is definitely not an attempt to capture athletic excellence. It is more a portrait of the apparent futility of fifteen or so grown men mud-wrestling for a leather ball. I do enjoy sports photography, not to make a record of particular events but more to capture moments of effort, speed, enjoyment, suffering or competition. Sport often gives unusual compositions that would not occur anywhere else.

5. When and where was this photo taken?  

Taken at East Grinstead Rugby Club, Sussex in March, 2024.

6. Was anyone with you when you took this photo?

30 players, about the same number of spectators and a referee.

7. What equipment (hardware and software) did you use?

Canon EOS R5.  With an  RF 100-500mm f4.5-7.1 lens set at 500mm. Editing with Photoshop Elements. Once I have a camera I never really bother with the technicalities.

8. What drew you to take this photo?

The inspiration for this photo goes back to a famous photo of Fran Cotton, an 1970s England Rugby player, covered in mud with only the whites of his eyes showing. Since then I have always been aware of the potential for mud and Rugby to offer interesting images. I would not wish to push the comparison too far but having taken the photo the composition slightly reminded me of the iconic photo of Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima

For this particular image, I liked that most of the players on the pitch were in shot and most with their faces visible. There was also a helpful dark background. There is something of the absurd about the scene. It was mud-wrestling rather than rugby and I couldn’t tell you which team won or even if there was any score.

9. How many attempts did it take to get this shot? How long did it take you to get one that you were satisfied with?

The match lasted about out an hour and I probably took a few hundred photos, keeping about thirty.  With digital and the ability to take many photos per second the question for me is how much time do I have spare to give to this match/location/event rather than how many pictures might I take. I never count or check, the goal is to end up with at a handful that are worth keeping.

During this match I switched between zooming in on individual players especially when it was possible to capture their facial expressions and wider shots of the play. On a day like this it can be that you get better individual portraits at the end of the match or at half time when the players are more static.

10. Did you edit (or do any post-processing/production on) this photo?

I made a few adjustments with Levels. The background was helpfully very dark and I burnt out a few small patches with visible parts of foliage.

11. What encouraged you to share this photo online and with others?

Rugby is probably the most photogenic team sport so I always think it offers the best chance of a photo that might interest others. As mentioned, I photograph sport to try and get a few images that have a story or intriguing composition rather than to provide a detailed record of the match or event.

12. Did you learn anything in the process of taking, editing, or sharing this photo?

It reinforced that it is best to photograph Rugby when the conditions are absolutely appalling, on a small pitch with the 2nd or 3rd teams not the 1st XV. That way as a photographer, you can keep up with the play more and often get more of a range of characters playing.

13. Do you remember what you had for breakfast (or lunch or dinner) the day you took this photo?

I can’t be sure about what I had for breakfast last week, but if I had to guess it would have been coffee and muesli. Those two usually power my mornings.

14. What would you like people to take away from this photo?

Only in sport would you get this type of composition and picture. These guys would have been back checking spreadsheets or selling double-glazing the next day, or whatever their day jobs are.

15. Is there any feedback that you’d like to get on this shot?

Whether colour or black and white is preferred ?

16. How can anyone reading this support your work?

I am zapmole756 on Flickr and c_c_mole on Instagram. I generally use these platforms just to organise photos for myself and share with friends and family. It is useful to see from views and likes, what images others respond to but I do not aim to maximise these metrics at all.

 

Chris Mole spent quite a few decades being London based for work in the IT and services industry, but, having retired, enjoying now the privilege of being able to invest more time in photography in Sussex, Pembrokeshire and Devon in particular. Over the years Chris’s photos have been published in most of the UK National press and photography magazines.