Perception and perspective. They’re similar, but they’re not the same. Understanding the difference is how you turn a tough day from forgettable to foundational, or find something new in something that you might have otherwise looked at thousands of times before.
In a new series in collaboration with Mental Athletic, Heat Check takes artists working outside of WorldTour cycling and asks them: what does pro cycling look like to someone with zero stake in it? With no frame of reference? We’re not giving them an introduction, or a primer – we’re extending an invitation to the sport’s inner workings. All access, no brief. Why? Because shifting the frame shows us something we think we know in a new way. New perception, new perspectives.
In part one of three, photographer Alberto Cantu goes to Omloop Nieuwsblad, the first of the Belgian Classics, considered by many to be the point at which racing really starts.
Maybe not the best way to start to your Heat Check, on a cold Saturday in February, dropped in at the deep end.
“I'm used to working with models. You have to direct every move. With an athlete in front of me, doing what they are giving their life for, you know… I just need to find the best angle and the best light to tell my story.”
But this isn’t a complete first. Perspective comes when you look and look again.
“ I actually come from sports. Surfing, skating and climbing, a little bit of bikes – fixed. The reason I moved more into fashion was because I wanted to find some freshness. I used to go and photograph cross-country races. No one cared about me, I could photograph whoever I want, however I want. But in a race like that, I can move by myself. And the guys would do like four laps. Here it’s more complicated… like a hundred times more complicated.”
If you’re willing, being fresh can have its advantages. You see things differently. You ask questions others might not. Gatekeeping exists everywhere, and not knowing which gates are kept sometimes means you can get through. All you can do is ask – what’s the worst that can happen?
“Afterwards, I couldn’t believe the amount of pictures they could take in just one race. Okay, they are on a bike – but they find the time to arrive at a location and see the shot. And maybe they get 20 stops for every race. For me, that was like mega respect. I don't know how you can get into this bubble. But I understand why it exists, you know? Not just because it's dangerous.”
The moto photographers are dressed that way for a reason. One of Alby’s key memories of the day are the conditions, which contributed to the risk he talks about.
“It was raining hard, super windy. In five minutes, I got all wet. I stayed like that all day.”
Of course, bad conditions can make good pictures.
“I like it when you can see there's pouring rain. And there are a couple of post-race portraits of the riders, all dirty and really messed up.”
Even if Alby didn’t know what he was letting himself in for, there was some advice on hand.
“Before the race, I snuck onto the bus with the guys as they were preparing to go to the presentation in the morning. They were having a conversation about how many layers to put on because of the cold. And one of them said, in my entire life I’ve never been hot in this race. The more you have, the better it is.”
The team presentation at Omloop is pretty unique – it takes place inside the track that hosts the Six Days of Ghent, a track race that’s been held annually since 1922 in the Kuipke velodrome, in the city’s Citadelpark. With Omloop, there’s a sense of occasion from the outset. You just have to find your way through it all.
“I didn’t know this, but there are maybe four different cars from the team in the race. I knew I wanted to see the start and the finish, so there was only one car that I could take to do both. They said okay, we leave at this time. And if you're not there? They're not gonna wait.”
But tension is part of the process.
“There’s always pressure. When I was studying, I thought, okay, maybe in a year I won’t have the pressure. But every time, the day before it's like the night before the exams, you know? I don't know if I ever talked about this with another photographer, actually, but it's always there, in the stomach. But when you start photographing, your mind just clicks and you're into it.”
Even so, Alby had no reservations diving in.
"I wasn't scared when I was asked to go. Maybe I underestimated it because I thought, oh, that's just gonna be me following the team. But I've gotten used to working with a producer. In this case, it was just me thrown into this ecosystem going like 300 kilometres per hour."
Months later, as we reflect, the Giro has just passed through Milan – where Alby lives. He went to check it out. Did he take a camera?
“I went to a concert two weeks ago and there was a song I really liked. I took my phone out to record it. I'm always complaining about people with their phones out constantly, and there I am doing that. Everyone is free to do whatever. It's difficult because when I shoot, I switch my brain. When I'm like a normal person, I just vibe with it.”
Find the full Heat Check 01 spread in Mental Athletic Issue #5.
With special thanks to:
Photographer: Alberto Cantu
@albicantu
Collaborators:
Mental Athletic
@mental.athletic
GreenEDGE
@greenedgecycling
