As The Championships’ photographic manager, Bob Martin appreciates the finer details of the images which every day capture the essence of Wimbledon. In this series celebrating the best of the AELTC’s talent behind the lens, he nominates his Picture of the Day.
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Bob Martin is looking for iconic pictures from his team of photographers that “just say Wimbledon”. This image - shot by Jon Buckle at 3.56pm on July 9, 2016, of an ecstatic Serena Williams proudly holding aloft the Venus Rosewater Dish with tautly outstretched arms - is a great example of what Bob calls a “landscape of the moment”.
It’s a striking single image; there is so much energy in Serena’s pose but, equally, you could focus on any square inch of the frame and find a classic Wimbledon scenario. There is so much going on, so many layers of interest, so much colour and detail; it’s the champion meeting her public but with an aura of intimacy. The picture would make a fantastically challenging jigsaw puzzle.
“Content is what it’s all about,” says Bob. “Here the composition includes the ivy-clad walls, the Centre Court signage, the champion raising the trophy, the camera crew following her, senior members on the balcony taking pictures, Club staff looking through the window from inside the Clubhouse. Below the balcony, there is lots of pandemonium which the security guards are striving to control; but the crowd looks orderly because everyone is in a similar pose trying to take their own iconic picture or video on their mobile phones.”
The picture was taken from a vantage point at the top of No.3 Court, looking back at the Clubhouse. The champion and her trophy are framed horizontally by the ivy-clad walls (which signal time-old tradition) and the people who happen to have gathered at that spot (the transient spectators).
“I love capturing the bigger picture. This is a nice overview of the champion meeting the people,” says Jon Buckle. “Serena is rapt, but what I enjoy about this scene is that she is sharing her moment with fans and members of the general public who haven’t actually seen a ball struck in the final. They’re not Centre Court ticket holders. They’ve watched it on the big screens and they’ve flocked to this spot to see the champion in person. It’s a really pretty scene with a lot going on. I love the way it captures some people coming out of Centre Court who are totally oblivious to what’s going on up on the balcony above them.”
On that day, Jon recalls he had a roving brief. “I was not positioned courtside. I was going around the different gangways to see the champion from different angles with all the people cheering. But I was mindful of the balcony moment, and hungry to get to that position at the top of No.3 Court which we’d worked out was the best vantage point. The champions used to peer through the window, but now they come to present the trophy on the balcony. It’s a new-ish tradition. It’s getting busier year on year, but it’s a beautiful moment.”
Technical info:
This image was shot on a Nikon D4S, at a shutter speed of 1/1250th of a second with an F2.8 aperture using a 70-200 lens set at 100mm and a sensitivity setting of 640 ASA.
