Pictures in a pandemic: How a young sports photographer shot the lights out

Sun, 07 Mar, 2021 - 10:00

Colm O’Connor

Sportsfile’s Harry Murphy has won the Young Sports Photographer of the Year at the prestigious SJA British Sports Journalism Awards.

Born in England, Murphy joined Sportsfile three years ago and works out of their Dublin Headquarters. The 24-year-old is the only Irish representative in the shortlist which also includes photographers from Getty Images and Reuters/Action Images.

Progression to this stage is a feat in itself according to Matthew Fearn, picture editor of the Telegraph and chair of the SJA photography judges. He explained: “The standard across this category was staggeringly high and the judges took an inordinate amount of time to decide on a shortlist and first place; for this, all the entrants should feel immensely proud”. The winners of the category will be revealed on the virtual SJA British Sports Journalism Awards on Monday, March 15.

Earlier this week Harry sat down (virtually) with Colm O’Connor and talked him through the five shots in his portfolio.

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“This picture captures Fionn Fogarty, right, (age 4), and his brother Fiach (2) watching on from their back garden during the Kuroshio At Compas Stallions Committed Stakes at Naas. This was the first day that horse racing returned during the first lockdown. With numbers being kept to an absolute minimum we could not gain entry to the racecourse but as it was such a big news story we knew that we had to do something to record the fact. So we sussed out the area around the course on Google Maps and discovered this row of houses which backed onto the track. I had the idea in my head of having children in their back garden in the picture so I just went and knocked on some doors of houses where I could see tell tale signs that kids might live there. Thankfully the Fogarty family were happy to let me in and I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw they had this brilliant structure up against the back wall. I took the picture from an upstairs room so I could get the widest angle. When I sent it out originally I had cropped the mom out of the shot but when I went back I realised how much she adds to the picture with her watching the boys who are watching the racing. There is a mixture of mischievousness and innocence wrapped into it all. I took some pictures of the kids in the garden and sent them on as a thank you to the family for all their help.”

“I took this picture of Molly Scott at her home in Carlow around May, at the height of lockdown. Photographers were desperate at the time to find opportunities to capture sportspeople training at home. I had seen here posting some images on twitter and contacted her about coming down and thankfully she agreed. The picture works so well because it was such a lovely day with a beautiful blue sky as a backdrop. I know your eyes are drawn to her jumping over a barrel but the other little details like the horsebox in the background and the house itself are just as important. It really gives a sense of the rural setting and the fact that an elite athlete - who competed at the European Indoor Championships in Poland this weekend - was continuing her preparations in what was literally her backyard. One of the few positives to emerge from the lockdown was that it forced me, and sports photographers in general, to think outside the box and get creative.

“It is hard to believe that this picture of Paul Townend celebrating winning the Gold Cup on board Al Boum Photo is almost a year old now - it feels like a lifetime ago given everything that has happened over the past 12 months. Again I had an idea in my head beforehand of how I wanted this picture to look and I wanted to get the clear blue sky as a background. So as they cleared the last fence I raced about 150 metres up the hill, with all my gear and dodging punters, towards a row of steps close to the winner’s enclosure. There is a space there that is clear of all the canopies and other such obstacles and distractions. I admit I was blowing hard and trying to catch my breath for a few minutes but it was worth it to be first across the line in my own race against the other photographers! The yellow against the blue really stands out and the reaction of Paul himself is brilliant as well.

“This was the last day of sport I did before the world went into lockdown. I went to London the week after Cheltenham and as sport was being cancelled around the planet this Olympic Boxing qualifier still trundled on. At the start of the event fans were actually being allowed in, then the organisers pulled that but continued the competition and then they just called a halt to everything one morning and that was that. Aidan Walsh is the Irish fighter on the left and this was a welterweight 69KG preliminary round bout against Pavel Kamanin of Estonia. The red and blue are very striking against the black background but what I like most is the two contrasting poses. Kamanin’s face is rippled at the moment of impact and his mouth is facing outwards while Walsh looks so composed and at ease it is almost as if he was posing for the camera.”

“This is my favourite from the collection. It was a European Champions Cup game before Christmas when Ulster were away to Gloucester. There were about 2000 fans allowed entry to the match at Kingsholm and that proved crucial in me getting the picture. It was ruck after ruck after ruck but the Gloucester supporters were screaming at the officials to take action as they could see that their player, Jordy Reid, had sustained a cut and was bleeding profusely. I had no idea what was going on as all of this was outside of my view. Eventually this guy stood up and turned around and faced in my direction. The blood was just streaming down his face. I think there was a screen above me so that is why he is looking towards me. That was how I got the shot of him. There was only a frame or two in it as the medics rushed in to patch him up within a few seconds.”