Category Finalist 2007: lifestyle

Espen Lystad

In December 2004, I was shooting a story in Eastern Europe with Travis Parker, Andrew Crawford, and filmer Jake Price. The snow conditions were terrible — there was hardly any snow at all — and, at one point, we ended up in Zakopane, Poland.

We were looking for things to jib right next to the road when we saw this old local lady sitting at a bus station. Travis and Andrew sat down and started talking to her, but language barriers made it impossible for them to understand each other.
 
I asked the woman if I could take a photo, and she made a gesture that meant yes. Even if she didn’t understand English, she got so excited after the first photo that she turned to Andrew and gave him a big kiss on his cheek. That’s when I caught the moment in this photo.

Athletes: Travis Parker, Andrew Crawford
Location: Zakopane, Poland

TECHNICAL INFO

• Camera: Hasselblad 501 CM
• Lens: Carl Zeiss 4/120 CFI
• Film: Kodak Tri-X 400
• F-stop: 5.6
• Shutter speed: 1/500
• Filter: Orange