Red Bull photographer Kelvin Trautman was handed an adrenaline-pumping assignment a few weeks ago; to document Matt Bush free soloing in and around the picturesque city of Cape Town in his native South Africa. We've got the backstory, including some stunning photographs.
What was the shoot for?
"The shoot was commissioned by Red Bulletin and my brief was to document Matt Bush free soloing and performing some of his trademark "artistic movements" on some beautifully exposed features around the iconic Table Mountain in South Africa."
Matt Bush looks like an interesting character. How was it to shoot with him?
"Free soloing is a sporting discipline that demands a great mix of human traits, respect and humility, self awareness, courage, tenacity… and Matt has all of these in bucket loads. More so, Matt is a consummate professional. His approach to his sport is meticulous and he works extremely hard. For example, the prep that went into this shoot was huge and Matt was on hand to offer his help at every step. This synergy between athlete and creative is really important and makes working in these pressure environments that much more rewarding."
Sound challenging. What difficulties did you face?
"Aside from the obvious difficulties of shooting on exposed rock faces, the biggest challenge was to ask Matt to do retakes. It is gut-wrenching to ask someone to risk their life for a photo. Prior to the shoot Matt and I spoke a lot about this. I was acutely aware that during the shoot Matt was going to need the head space to focus on climbing rather than worrying about camera angles and crew. We scouted a myriad of different lines, trying to find something that had a balance of the wow factor but that wasn’t the most technically challenging."
Seems like a rewarding experience?
"Yes. I was reminded again on this shoot that if you are willing to put yourself in places that others are not prepared to or not capable of, you then give yourself a great chance at producing unique content."
What equipment did you use?
"On the wall, I predominately used a Nikon D4s and Nikon D800 camera body, Nikon 14-24mm, 24-70mm, 50mm, and 70-200mmm lenses. I loaded this glass into a series of lens cases which were strung to my Black Diamond climbing harness."
What’s next for you?
"I’m in the edit suite at home in Cape Town for the next month. It’s nice to be home for a while after a lengthy 7 week stint away shooting in Papua New Guinea, Japan and Iceland with The African Attachment (an independent production company I have teamed up with)."
For the feature piece on Matt's ascent, head over to Red Bulletin.
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Freezing Free Solo in Cape Town, South Africa

© Kelvin Trautman