We take a look at some of the category winners of 2010 to find out what makes a winning shot. This week: Culture
The street photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson famously never went anywhere without his 50mm Leica. Its small size allowed him to stay unobserved so he could capture those spontaneous moments — a kid carrying bottles of wine, a slow-exposure of a cyclist viewed from a spiral staircase. It’s a reminder that to capture that truly great shot, you need to always have your camera at hand.
This was especially true for fellow Frenchman Vincent Perraud, winner of the Culture category. His shot of BMX riders cramming into a bus after a competition in Tallinn, Estonia was taken on the spur of the moment. “The scene was taking place very quickly,” he recalls. “Everyone was tired and was looking forward to getting back to the hotel because of the climate — it was -10C.
“The riders started cramming into the bus and the bikes took up a lot of space! I decided to take a few shots without setting my camera or lens, just for fun and memory’s sake.”
The result impressed the judges with its raw evocation of the BMX scene. “I was very lucky to capture this unusual scene, especially as my friend Alex Baret had his face between the spokes of a wheel.”
As we look ahead to submissions opening at the end of this year, it would be easy for photographers to spend a lot of time planning the perfect photoshoot.
But Perraud, currently shooting for mags like Soul, Ride UK and Dig, says he’ll rely on spontaneity again for the next Red Bull Illume. “It’s so difficult to get creative photos nowadays," he says. "I have nothing planned really but I like improvisation!”
As Cartier-Bresson demonstrated with his Leica almost a century ago, all you need — apart from a creative eye — is to make sure you always have your camera at the ready. Like Perraud, you could find yourself shooting at a sports event all day, but the winning shot comes afterwards when you’re tired, hungry and want to go home. Just make sure you still have your camera on you!
Red Bull Illume looks back at the best of 2010
Red Bull Illume looks back at the best of 2010
