I love climbing and I shoot a lot of climbing competitions. But what I like the most, is the geometry of climbing walls. Sometimes the walls looks like a folded sheet of paper. I practiced origami a lot, when I was a child. Maybe this is the reason, why I love geometry, shapes, and lines so much? The ‘technical inspiration’ for using the tape was Dan Vojtech and his BMX photos. I already had the idea of such a climbing shot a couple of years ago, but to make it – I needed a huge climbing wall free of any holds. And this was the problem, because taking all the holds down is a big task and nobody would do it just for a photo. I did a test-shot in a small bouldering gym, but it was nothing – the holds were disturbing, and I couldn’t show the geometry. Time passed by, but I kept the idea in my mind.
One year ago I got to know about building of a new climbing wall in Saint-Petersburg called ‘The North Wall’. The design of the wall was amazing. It had a huge arch in the middle and lots of climbing surfaces, so the creative ideas are just flowing.
While the wall is being built, the planes are empty with no holds, and you can see all the geometry of the wall, how the light comes on it. It was exactly what I needed!
When we came to make the shot, the wall was still under construction and about 85% ready. During the preparation we got some problems. I spent about two hours putting the tape on the wall, but suddenly it came unstuck and started to fall down. We had spent some more hours putting it back again and fixing it with some screws. I got nervous, because it already became night and all the people from the climbing gym, the athlete, and the backstage team were waiting for me. But the guys from the climbing gym were extremely friendly and helpful. For them it was also a special moment, when they realized, that the wall they were building became alive!
When the tape was finally on the wall again, we started shooting. And it took only a few minutes, to get it done.
Leonid Zhukov

About the shot

Biography
I was born 1984 in St.Petersburg, Russia. My grandfather was a hobby photographer. But unfortunately he passed by when I was 10. At that age I wasn’t interested in photography and didn’t learn anything. I started shooting with my first film camera at the age of 19.
I’ve never been a professional athlete, but I always practiced a lot of sports. One day I felt in love with bike trials and got involved into extreme sports. I was organizing different bike events with my friends – mountain bike, trials, from local races up to national championships. Somebody had to be responsible for the pictures. And 2013 was the moment, when I combined my two passions – sports and photography!Climbing, trials, mountain bike, skiing, outdoor – most of the sports I shoot, I’m doing by myself. ‘Sporty photographer’ – I love this kind of wordplay. A photographer, who takes pictures of sport events and practice extreme sports too! Knowing the sports ‘from the inside’ helps a lot to find a perfect angle and to show the action from the most spectacular side!
Nowadays I’m shooting as official photographer UCI Trials World Cups and Championships, and follow Russian Climbing team during their competitions.