Photographers Blog

Mumbai, India

By Vivek Prakash

Mumbai has very few green open spaces. One of them is Shivaji Park, a large field in central Mumbai where people gather to play and practice a variety of sports.

GALLERY: INDIAN POLE GYMNASTICS

Tucked away in a quiet little corner of this park is a small building outside of which you’ll see some interesting performances if you walk past in the early mornings and evenings. There are ropes hung from bars about 20 feet off the ground and wooden poles about 8 feet tall – you’ll see kids suspended from the ropes and climbing up the poles to perform a variety of gymnastic postures that fall into the “can you really do that?!?” category.

This is the Shree Samartha Vyayam Mandir, which has been around for over 80 years, and the sport is called “Mallakhamb.”

The name is a composite of two Indian words – “Malla”, which means “strong man”, and “khamba”, which means a wooden pole.

I’ve always been curious about what exactly the sport is all about, so I met Uday Deshpande – whose day job is at the customs department – but who comes to the park mornings and evenings, seven days a week to conduct Mallakhamb classes. I mentioned that I was interested in doing a story on this amazing sport, and Uday invited me to photograph a number of demonstrations and classes. He told me the sport has been around for a long time – since the 12th century – but became more popular in the mid-1800s and now has a strong following in India.

By Russell Boyce

Being a picture editor for a wire agency at the London 2012 Olympics is like being a referee at a title-deciding football match. If everything goes well no one really notices you; but one big mistake and you are the most hated person in the stadium. If you call it wrong and miss the picture that captures the vivid moment of sporting agony or ecstasy you risk the jeers and frustrations of the whole team. The reward? A good picture editor has the chance to select that defining picture, the shot that the photographer doesn’t even know he or she has taken, or to crop a frame that changes a good picture into a great one.

At the London Games, Reuters has more than 55 photographers, 17 picture editors and 25 processors. My role is to edit the Gymnastics and Athletics. Below is a picture of my screen for the men’s 200m final.

Photographers have to lug pounds of gear in sweltering sunshine or heavy rain, arrive early at the venue, fight for a position or an angle, argue with anyone that they feel is in their way, prepare themselves mentally to capture a fleeting moment and all the while competing alongside the world’s best shooters who are doing the same. A fraction of a second miss and their mistake will stare out at them from papers, websites and books. They must also be technically astute enough to stream their pictures from their cameras or laptops to the editor.