An exclusive interview with Laurence Griffiths
Laurence Griffiths is an acclaimed and talented football photographer whose work is instantly recognizable. He produced many well-known photos of France’s 2018 World Cup celebration, and has probably taken photos of his favorite player. He’s the director of editorial content for Getty Images, and World Soccer Talk was lucky enough to chat with him about the ins and outs of photography.
World Soccer Talk (WST): How did you get started in sports photography and how did you eventually climb the ladder to become one of the best in the world?
LG: My uncle, Dave Jones, was a very talented photographer living in the UK. He was a sports fan growing up and I loved playing and watching soccer. But it was only when Dave won an award for an incredible image of Keith Houchen scoring a spectacular header during the 1987 FA Cup Final at Wembley that a career in sports photography really caught my attention.
Dave took me to Nottingham Forest games when I was 16, where he gave me an old Nikon FM2, 180mm lens and a few rolls of film at every game. He taught me the basics and helped me get my foot in the door of a local photo agency. The rest, as they say, is history. I am now approaching my 25th year at Getty Images and have covered every World Cup since 1994.
WST: What technique do you have? Any rituals, rules of thumb, or advice that you follow while playing the game?
LG: Preparation is key. We started planning (for the 2022 World Cup) shortly after France lifted the trophy in 2018. At this year’s World Cup, Getty Images has a team of more than 50 people in Qatar, including 48 specialist sports photographers and staff from operations. We are supported by a team of 20 editors, most of whom are stationed in London, while the others work remotely from their home offices to live edit the footage in real time. Having such great support allows our photography team to focus on the games and photography.
I’m traveling in Qatar with a group of five photographers to cover a game every day, so it’s important to make sure all our gear is in working order, batteries are charged, and images are backed up after every game. We move a large amount of equipment for each match every day in addition to our normal equipment. We also shoot at the goal with our four remote and network cameras, as well as from the walkways on the stadium roofs, for which we carry and carry harnesses and safety material.
I love soccer because it is very unpredictable. You have to stay on top of your game by capturing in real time. The modern game is played very fast with a lot of one touch football making it the most difficult sport to shoot. My experience and knowledge of the game really helps when it comes to capturing a World Cup. This is my eighth World Cup so I hope I’ve learned some valuable lessons along the way!
WST: When you were filming the Morocco-Croatia game, how was the day, in general? Do you have a 24-hour schedule of what you do before, during, and after games?
LG: Recording a World Cup is a busy and fast-paced task. Morocco v Croatia seems like a long time ago now. At this year’s World Cup, all the venues are close together, whereas in Russia and South Africa we would fly to every game, but this layout allows photographers to shoot two games a day. Once we arrive at the stadium, we check our kit before heading to our pitchside positions three hours before kick-off.
Our first job is to install our two remote cameras behind the goals and place our network camera at the back of each goal, which captures balls crossing the line accurately. We need to do this before the players come out for their warm up. We then make sure our cameras are connected to high-speed Ethernet cables, which transmit our images to the editing team in real time, delivering images to clients in as little as 30 seconds.
The first thing that really impressed me from this match was the incredible support from the Morocco fans. They were colourful, vibrant, loud and bathed in sunlight as it was the early 1pm (local time) game. I made it my priority to document those scenes. Sadly, they didn’t get a goal to celebrate as the game ended 0-0, but at least it was a vital point in the group stage. Football photography is all about great moments, goals, celebrations and reactions, so a 0-0 draw was far from ideal for the fans.
WST: What’s your all-time favorite soccer photo you’ve ever taken?
LG: There are so many elements that have to come together to make great football photography. My favorite image from a World Cup is Paul Pogba kissing the trophy after winning the 2018 World Cup. I love the fact that he is hugging and kissing the trophy as if it were his son.
WST: Photographers are always in the background during broadcasts. But has there ever been a time when a player interacted with you while you were at work?
LG: Getty Images has been FIFA’s authorized photo agency since 2009, so we’ve had a lot of interactions with the players over the years. We film exclusive content for FIFA, including portraits of every player taking the field at the World Cup, and you can see how much the players enjoy these shots from the images we captured.
I was lucky enough to photograph the portraits of the French team before they won the World Cup in 2018. It was the most fun team I have ever photographed. Pogo (Paul Pogba) and Mbappé were in top form that day.
WST: Is there any other important information that you think World Soccer Talk readers should know?
LG: In total, we will capture 1.5 million images at this year’s World Cup and upload more than 3,000 images every day to GettyImages.com. Thanks to our unique access, we are able to bring coverage of the event to the world from the most exclusive positions, providing behind-the-scenes photos from all angles, including the locker room, player tunnel and near the team benches.
Photo Credit: Laurence Griffiths – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images; Photos used with permission of Laurence Griffiths.
World Cup 2022 Guide
Here are some resources to help you make the most of the biggest event in soccer!
