Interview with Chris Hitchcock

“To me, photography is the simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event.” Henri Cartier-Bresson

If photography is the art of capturing a decisive moment, then adventure- and sports photography must surely be the pinnacle of action, frozen in time.

There’s no shortage of sports photographers here in South Africa, hungry for that fraction of a second that has IT, that has THE moment, the one we all love, the ultimate sporting moment. But how many of them have the raw talent to capture more than just action, to take photos that really grab attention, and make you feel you’re there, breathing the dust and flicking the mud from your cheek. Not many.

Over the years I’ve been privileged to get to know 13 photographers whose work does exactly that. In this feature I’ll be interviewing each of those pro photographers, one a week, looking into the person behind the lens and finding out what clicks their shutters!

I took this photo of Chris as he was shooting me from the safety of his rock

I first met Chris on a photoshoot for the cover of TRAIL mag. He wanted a dramatic vista for the shoot, so I had suggested a spot near a small cliff-edge off Smuts Track, near the dams on Table Mountain. It was a solid 6km uphill hike to get there, and we made it early enough to catch the first light of the morning sky. Chris had me leaping back and forth across a disturbingly deep 2m wide chasm while he kept firmly wedged on solid ground, which I had no problem with, but did wonder why he was so careful to keep his distance, not budging off the rock on which he firmly lodged. He only told me later that he’s terrified of heights!

LD: Tell us about your upbringing, and what brought you to South Africa from the UK.

CH: I was born in Somerset, England in 1959. In those days there were still 9 planets, and the internet didn’t exist. In my head, I’m still 16, and firmly enjoying my first childhood. I just have to train harder now to stay fit.

My dad was in the British navy, serving in the elite Special Boat Service, and we moved town every 12 to 18 months whenever he got a new drafting. (That was his story, but knowing him, he was probably involved in the Great Train Robbery, and we were moving to evade the police). To make it easier we lived in a mobile home/caravan, and just upped sticks and moved everything to each new base on the back of a trailer. Actually, I didn’t live in a proper house until I was 11, when the family emigrated to South Africa. Our family song was “The wheels on my house go round and round”. I went to 11 different schools in all. It’s a wonder that I can even read.

Local historian Ulric Roberts in the the Schaap River Canyon in Namaqualand © Chris Hitchcock

LD: I know you ditched another career for the adventures of photography. When did you take that leap?

CH: When I left school, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, and even less interest in doing it. But I did have an interest in technology and electronics, and my dad, who was now earning his crust in civvy street, and was sick and tired of paying for me to sit on my bum at home, got me a job with one of his business contacts selling electronic components and equipment. Life meandered along and I eventually ended up at the beginning of the Internet era working for a major internet provider in Cape Town, running their data centre.

But full-time photography had been the dream since I got my first proper camera way back in 1982, I just had no idea how to get there. I’m a massive fan of my buddy Jacques Marais’s images, so I’d go to races with my camera on weekends and try to emulate his work. I shot tens of thousands of photos just for myself, to learn the craft. Jacques was a great help, and always keen to help and give me input. I don’t think he has any ego at all.

Anyway, fast forward to 2011 when I got my first professional gig for the BSG triathlon series. BSG had seen my photos on Facebook, liked my work and invited me to shoot their national series for two years. A pro sports photography career quickly snowballed from there. Being a tech head certainly helped me, as I understand the internet, social media, what drives it and how to use it.

Comrades legend Bob de la Motte and Kathleen Mc Quaide at SOX © Chris Hitchcock

LD: You cover various sports, and trail running isn’t the most dramatic of them. Tell us about your coverage of triathlon and other sports.

CH: It’s no secret from my mates that my first love is triathlon. It’s a pretty solitary sport to compete in, and my attraction probably comes from going to so many schools and being a bit of a loner. Once I started shooting full time, it meant that I could no longer compete in events, so shooting them was the next best thing. My mate Paul Kaye, who travels the world with Ironman as a commentator, put me in touch with the Ironman organisation and I have shot events for them since 2013. That was a massive break for me as a shooter, and I’m incredibly grateful to Paul for that.

I’ve also done a fair amount of cycle shooting as well. From track to road to mountain bikes, I’ve shot them all. It’s pretty exhilarating when you’re so close to the subject that you can feel your hair blow as they come past.

Another SOX image. Where else do you get to pull yourself across a river on a pontoon during a race? © Chris Hitchcock

LD: There must be a few hair-raising moments in your memory bank. Give us those gories!

CH: Probably the scariest thing I’ve done was being on the back of a motorbike going around the Bellville velodrome at speed. I was shooting track cycling and had briefed the riders to make it look realistic while I shot them. Well, the guy piloting the motorbike was also a top cyclist and took me at my word. The lunatics on bikes (which, incidentally, have no brakes) were coming at us from all angles, and my guy was really into it, weaving around and elbowing them back. It was chaos, and in the middle of all this madness, I somehow got some great shots. It gave me a new respect for trackies though.

The other scary thing only happened in my head. I don’t have a massive love of heights, in fact I’m terrified of them. I was shooting an adventure race with Jacques Marais back in 2011, and he knows about my height phobia. Never one to sympathise, he pointed me down some single track and told me it was the only route out of the ravine. Halfway down he warned me I would come to a massive drop with an overhang, and that to get to the bottom I would have to climb down the rope that had been left there. He suggested that I should tie knots in it so that I wouldn’t slip and fall. Knowing I had no choice but to head down and hope for the best, I spent an agonising two hours visualising my death, only to find when I got to the bottom that it was just a massive piss-take.

Captured during a race in the service tunnel of the Du Toits Kloof tunnel © Chris Hitchcock

LD: What has been your most memorable trail running shoot and why?

CH: No hesitation there – it’s the annual Namaqua Quest 3-day Trail Run. Namaqualand is like soul food for me. I spend two weeks a year up there shooting races and I love the place. There is one 10km section of the route that goes through part of the Schaap River Canyon, which has to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. Next year there’ll be the inaugural 100km Schaap River Canyon Ultra trail run, and I can’t wait!

Runner about to descend into the Blue Mine section in the Goegap Nature Reserve at Namaqua Quest © Chris Hitchcock

LD: What has been the most compromising position you’ve had to be in for a shoot?

CH: I once wandered into the women’s transition tent at an ultra-distance triathlon. That was a bloody embarrassing experience, and to this day I swear I’m mistaken and that I was actually daydreaming. I’m still not entirely sure why the marshal didn’t stop me, or why some of them had to get that naked.

LD: If you had a dream shoot, what and where would that be?

CH: Oh, that’ll be Iceland, every time. Shooting biking and running with those backdrops has to be the ultimate.

Chris’s buddy Marinda Lindeque having a ‘no frikken way’ moment on some random run near Caledon © Chris Hitchcock

The solitude of a lone runner in a wheat field near Caledon in the Western Cape © Chris Hitchcock

Shot on the Mountain Warrior Trail Run 2012. Dion Middlekoop (still a relatively young man then) was first through the river that was swollen with frozen snow © Chris Hitchcock

The 3-day SOX trail run goes through areas of the Knysna indigenous forest that the general public isn’t allowed to enter © Chris Hitchcock

For more info on Chris’s work, check out Chris Hitchcock Photography

Bob de la Motte, BSG, Ironman, Jacques Marais, Kathy McQuaide, Kim Stephens, Marina Lindeque, Namaqua Quest, Namaqualand, Paul Kaye, Schaap River Canyon, Southern Cross, SOX, Ulric Roberts

Author

Linda Doke

I'm an ultra trail runner by passion, and a journalist by profession - in that order of priority. I've been running for about 23 years, always with a preference for ultras. I have to admit, I was a roadie for the first 10 years, but I came to my senses in 2004, when I moved to Cape Town and found trail. And I've never looked back... Since 2008 I've been a Salomon athlete, and I remain ever-proudly Salomon.

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