SYDNEY SABRE
From when I first experienced fencing as a sport at school, it has always ignited my strong imagination - loose-open pirate white shirts, fanciful language and battles whilst moving around the city space with the public spectating in curious awe. The sport, is much faster and alot more intense than what I replay in my mind.
Sydney Sabre was kind enough to open their doors and generously sharing their time with me (along with pizza and a whole bunch of stories) to make these images.
This sport with no surprise originated from sword-fighting of old and thankfully developed into the less dangerous form it takes today. Even with the protective equipment, accidents and damage can still happen happen as John and Frances vividly explain to me; from accidental strikes to unprotected (and unlikely hit) parts of the body to broken ankles from the intensity of the lunge strikes.
There is so much to this sport that has yet to reveal itself to me and I hope to find out alot more; perhaps, picking up John's book is the natural next step!
A side-story to this shoot: It nearly did not happen. With all the planning and preparation that had been done, I could not cancel the shoot when both my assistants fell-through. The thought of all the time put in by Frances to organise the team, the travel to gather equipment and preparing the creative brief going to waste was not an option... so, we shot it with a skeletal team (missing a femur and humorous).
So a big thanks to Frances for the patience and the efforts in making this happen.
Team and Tools:
Nikon D850 | 35mm | 58mm | 20mm Nikkors
Tripod | Profoto B1 x2 | Hard Reflectors | LED tubes | Nanlite Forza 500 x2 & fresnel with barn doors | Various scrims and silver reflectors
Pre-Colored on Capture One | Retouched on Photoshop CC
