Richard Lautens
The day before the half pipe event, my supervisor and I hiked up and down that pipe for 2 hours laying down the logistics as to where we were going to situate approximately 300 photographers. Luckily, the majority stationed themselves at the bottom of the course so we didn’t have to keep 222 various cameras from falling into the pipe. I did watch one lens hood take a dive that was a little too close for comfort. Thankfully another volunteer threw his glove over the fence to stop if from taking the plunge and pissing off the IOC (International Olympic Committee).
This particular photographer is Richard Lautens of the Toronto Star. This man does not know it, but he helped to revive my faith in the photojournalism industry. He has been a staff photographer for the Star for 23 years and still lives happily with his wife and children. The glow on his face when he began to describe his love for pictures truly shocked me for a guy who has been battling in the industry for so long. He talked about how he would not hesitate to jump on the chance to cover events such as the Olympic games (these are his second, Beijing being his first) but what excited him most was the chance to head back home and visit his son’s classroom and share his experience with the kids. He has a fun Olympic photo blog posted on the Star website. Take a close look at his images of Shaun White, as I assisted him with choosing which photos to file, but don’t tell VANOC- I’m not supposed to bug the photographers.
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