Mario Tama (Mario Tama), Getty Images photographer. Mario Tama is a New York City-based photographer currently based in Rio de Janeiro.
Everyone is a pro.
With the advent of digital and smartphone photography, it is much more difficult to capture Olympic landmarks than in the past. Many people in the stadiums have high-quality cameras. What they do not manage to capture, they can find on the internet from other spectators by simply following a hashtag.
The International Olympic Committee has no problem with amateurs publishing their photos online as long as they do not use them for commercial purposes.
Jessica Ennis Hill ( Jessicaennishill ) takes a photo with Usain.
Get creative
Professional photographers today are, therefore, required to be more innovative and creative than their predecessors. It is important to have a sense of what makes an image historically significant. Even then, someone else may come up with the same idea. Remember that iconic photo of Usain Bolt smiling over his shoulders during the 100-metre heat? There are actually 2 of these.
Cameron Spencer is a Getty Images staff photographer based in Sydney (cjspencois).
High Tech
Professional photographers have to be more creative with technology to stand out from the crowd. Rio has some amazing gadgets, from cameras that can fly in the air and go underwater to rigs that can capture 360-degree footage.
Bob Martin, photographer, and grandfather.
Free Work
In the hope of securing new commissions, photographers are sharing more work online for free. Photographers use platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat to share their most recent snaps.
Gary Hershorn is an NYC-based photographer and photoeditor (garyhershorn). Former Reuters contributor, now working with SilverHub Media and Getty Images.
Maintaining control
It isn’t easy to control one’s images online since people often repost, copy, and distribute without asking permission, paying royalties, or even properly attributing. Getty, one of the most prominent photo agencies, recently dealt with the issue by allowing users to freely use certain photos on the internet using an embed code that links back to the website.
Adam Pretty (Adam pretty).
Going mainstream
The front page of newspapers still features the same iconic photo for every sporting event. It’s the image that everyone looks forward to seeing. Reports indicate that the most popular social media platform is Instagram. Social media allows you to measure the popularity of photos by “likes” and “favorites.” The mainstream media should pay attention to this.
Social media stories that are funny and entertaining can be huge hits, like the one of US athlete Ben Knute, who created his opening ceremony when he was unable to attend the official event.
Mark Reis (mark.reis).
Avant-garde artists
The future of the photographer may be at risk with the rise in citizen-generated media: Instagram likes do not always pay the bill. These challenges can be the catalyst for major changes in the way avant-garde artists create new work. Gerald Andel, one of the Olympic Artists-in-Residence at the 2012 Games, uses Twitter’s Vine app to create unusual works.
New Age
Photographic art is no different. To see how the sports genre has changed, look at these artists’ work. Their work could be indicative of the new golden age of sports photography, in which photographers are now becoming videographers, animators, and more.
