I was asked to photograph a Saudi weight lifter as he tried to beat
the Saudi record, I have no idea what classification he was in or the weight he
was to lift all I know is I couldn’t have lifted it unless I had a JCB. It was
at a local sports day, I stood in front of him as he prepared himself for the
lift, camera ready, he bent to grab the bar, lifted the weights on to his
chest, then pushed the bar above his head. Snap the picture taken as he stood
there with every sinew and muscle in his body straining to hold steady the
load. It was in the days of film cameras and I had to take it away to be
developed and printed.
I was so pleased with the results, it had been taken out doors and
the sun gave texture to the bulging muscles the Saudi record the face strained
with effort captured, I had a wonderful picture for him. Later in the day I
showed him the print of it, he looked at it sadly “Mr Mike” he said “I am not
smiling, we must do it again so I can smile when you take the photograph.”
True enough he organised the lift again, it followed the same
procedure as before except that when he was struggling to hold the weight above
his head for a brief millisecond he smiled and thank heavens I managed to catch
it. The final print showed a strong man lifting the Saudi record weight and
smiling as though it was as light as a feather. Perhaps he was right to insist
on taking it again.
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