Photos aim to strike emotion

Some photos are fun to take.

Action shots, pictures from different perspectives or, in sports, capturing celebratory moments — they’re the easy ones.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, there are moments that are difficult to photograph.

Accidents, fires or, again, in sports, injuries or moments of defeat.

Being behind the camera at those times can be awkward. You’re capturing a moment that, to the subject of the photo, could be one of the worst moments of their life. Or in the spirit of athletic competition, could be a moment they soon wish to forget.

In four-plus years I’ve taken my fair share of those pictures. More often than not, I’m around as seasons come to a close and athletic careers end.

At times, those moments are expected. Other times, they come in the waning minutes of a sectional opening soccer game, as was the case last week with the Jay County boys soccer team.

Jay County had battled the Yorktown Tigers in a scoreless game at New Castle. Both teams had plenty of chances to break the tie, but all went unfinished. It wasn’t for lack of effort, but just being a split second too late or a hair off target.

With 12.5 seconds remaining, the Tigers scored the game-winning goal. From where I was standing, I noticed JCHS junior Daniel Fugiett bury his head in his hands. I reached for my camera, zoomed in on the forward and started taking pictures.

I noticed something else in the frame.

Yorktown’s players, jubilant in celebration, were moving closer to Fugiett. I zoomed out, continued to shoot pictures and got a wonderful — albeit disheartening — photo of the Tigers celebrating with Fugiett’s head still buried in his hands.

It wasn’t an easy moment to capture, but it had to be done.

“It was a close game,” Fugiett said. “We both were having the ball pretty good. Once they scored with 12 seconds left I was pretty disappointed because it happened a couple times that year. (Teams) scored in the last minute.”

Immediately following the game, I didn’t want to talk to Fugiett to get his thoughts. Approaching players — teenagers — after debilitating losses is one of the most difficult things to do as a prep sports writer.

It took more than a week for me to speak with Fugiett regarding that picture, one he and his mother Cathy, get upset just talking about.

But Daniel feels, as I did while deciding to take the photo, it accurately represents the game.

“It shows how we thought we were going to make it to (overtime) and all the sudden it ended,” he said.

As photographers, we don’t try to embarrass our subjects. We take photos that best describe a moment in time.

The photo of Fugiett did that.

So too did a picture from the 2016 girls soccer season.

Shelby Caldwell, then a JCHS sophomore, was thrust into action as the Patriots’ goalkeeper in place of an injured Lilly Rogers. Caldwell was admirable in her effort, as Jay County and Yorktown played to penalty kicks in the sectional semifinal.

The Patriots lost, and I later captured a picture of Caldwell sitting down on the pitch, crying into her hands.

What did she think when she saw the picture?

“I was kind of embarrassed because I was crying,” she said.

The feeling didn’t last long.

“Then I saw the real emotion that I felt for that game,” she added. “I really love this sport in general.”

Caldwell gave up volleyball after her freshman season to instead play soccer. Seeing that photo assured her she made the right decision.

“The soccer team is like a family and I really felt it in that picture and in that game,” she said.

She too said that picture was a good representation of the outcome of the game. Sometimes a photo does a better job at telling a story than words can ever do. The Fugiett and Caldwell frames are prime examples.

The conversation with Caldwell made me wonder: having had a picture of her crying on the front page of this newspaper, what was her reaction to seeing Fugiett in a similar manner?

“It really shows how much someone is into or loves that sport,” she said. “Anybody can be happy for a win. Your parents can be happy for a win. None of (the parents) truly feel what it’s like to lose that game. None of them really know.

“An athlete can relate to another athlete when they experience disappointment because we’ve all been there.”

Sure, being the subject in those pictures at first, can be as upsetting as the moment depicts. But in both Fugiett and Caldwell’s cases, there are no other pictures to accurately describe that exact point in time or the emotion felt by those involved.

They’re not fun photos to take, either.

But photos are meant to strike an emotion, initiate a feeling and tell a story. Celebration pictures definitely do that, but the aforementioned moments of dejection, defeat and disappointment do too.

While it may be unfavorable to have your picture taken in those situations, we as photographers try to do one thing: convey to the readers that these athletes have a passion and love for their sport both in victory and defeat.