Twelve stitches. During the Brazilian football tournament, a player of Vasco da Gama kicked the face of the goalkeeper of Bahia and was rushed to the hospital for surgery. Not only Brazilian photographer Andrè Durâo was there ready to capture the moment, but he also knew he had taken a very special picture despite his working conditions were far from ideal. “When I photographed this moment, I immediately remembered the AIPS Sport Media Awards. For these moments you always have to be prepared, they are fast and rare,” he says.
“Sure kick” then advanced on each round of the Awards until reaching the podium of the 2021 edition. Durâo will be present in Doha, Qatar, for the ceremony gala at Khalifa International Stadium on Sunday 12 June.
-How and when did you start as a sport journalist/photographer?
-I joined Jornal do Brasil in 1983, when I was 17 years old, and in 1985 I started photographing sports. At 20, I was already photographing at the 1986 Mexico World Cup.
-Please tell us more about Sure Kick.
-For me, I was coming from a big game the day before, that was the final of the Copa Libertadores, where I had already taken great photos. And I was getting ready for the Tokyo Olympics. The goalkeeper took some stitches in the mouth, 12, because the studs had hit him very hard. I imagine he went to the hospital after the match, to have some tests, more in depth.
-It was a difficult time to work in Brazil, when this happened
-Yes, we were at the time of many cases of Covid 19 in Brazil, the fear of contamination was very great, this always influences the production of photos. The great difficulty of this day was that the temperature was 41 degrees in Rio de Janeiro, it was in the middle of the Brazilian summer and I was working with a mask and with the rules of sports work during the pandemic, photographers could not work on the lawn, we were photographing from the stands, where it was very hot, I even thought about changing my seat, as I was sitting on the cement, which was very hot and burned my leg. It was very difficult to work on this game.
-Please tell us the emotion as you were advancing to the next round and what happened when you saw your name in the final 3?
-It was a lot of emotion, I knew that my photo was great, but I imagined that the other great photographers would also have great photos, I was at the Olympics and I always meet these great photographers and I know they always have great photos, but when I was walking the steps, I became more and more excited and happy. When I arrived between the 3, a movie came in my head remembering my first game, when I was 17 years old, I was very emotional.
-What can the AIPS Sport Media Awards bring to the profession and to the new generations of journalists?
The AIPS Sport Media Awards are very important for journalists and photographers, I consider them the Oscars for sports photographers. Here in Rio de Janeiro, several colleagues have already come to congratulate me on the achievement, it is very important to encourage photographers in Brazil. Here there is this preconceived thought that European and US photographers are always better than us. Now it is the great chance that people will change these thoughts. If I win, the stimulus will be greater, I ‘m sure, that next year, there will be more Brazilians enrolled in the contest.
-What is the biggest challenge for sports journalism in the present and in the future? Why?
-In my opinion, the great difficulties for sports photographers in Brazil come from the expensive prices of photographic equipment (we suffer with the exchange rate), the lack of customers, social media networks are welcome and part of our lives, but in the same way they provide us with visibility, these same social networks also rob us on the job market. We have to think about how to balance this. This will be the big question in the present and near future. The balance.
-A final message before the ceremony?
-I would like to thank everyone at AIPS, for encouraging everyone with the Awards and I could not fail to thank the affection I receive from my wife and children, because I work very hard and most of the time, especially at the end of week, when the ‘normal thing’ is to be with the family, so their affection and respect is fundamental, for me to always be calmed to work. I always say that I’m a very lucky guy, because I work at one of the biggest media companies in the world, Globo, and I’m sure they’re very proud that I’m representing the company in this award. My dedication to this company goes beyond a few decades. Besides the pride of being among the finalists, the prize money always helps, I will spend my prize on photographic equipment, to try to come back here on this podium in the coming years.
Source: AIPS