WINTER 2020
Collector
SPECIAL EDITION
SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARC SEROTA Winter 2017 Opulence
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Note from the editors As 2020 comes to an end we didn’t want to talk about the last 9 months, as we have all heard enough from the media, so instead we wanted to do an issue based on role models of the last few years in sports and dedicate this issue to their hard work and dedication to the sport they love. A great thank you to our friend Marc Serota for allowing this to happen.
— David and Jayne
A Word From Marc Serota
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hotography has given me everything I have in my life. A camera in my hands has enabled me to have a front row view of history and basically steal moments in time, but photography has also enabled me to share my work with clients and friends and family that I love the most.
My career began the first time I touched the camera somewhere around the age of 12 or 13... It was a Vivitar 110 Instamatic film camera (you can Google that to see just how old I am). I believe that no matter your age, we have more in common than you think. Anyone reading this book today might also have received their very first camera around the age of 12 or 13 (or earlier) when they got their first smartphone. This book is a collection of some of my favorite moments lensing Hall of Fame athletes and iconic moments in sports. I call this book G.O.A.T.S. because it contains, in my humble opinion, a series of photographic moments of some of the Greatest Athletes Of All Time. Having the opportunity of lensing some of the Greatest Athletes of All Time has been my life’s work and is both an honor and a privilege. My 35-year long photography career has allowed me to experience many funny yet serious – candid yet staged – iconic yet simple moments some of which I share with you in this book. I dedicate this book to my late dad Bobby Serota who was my inspiration to “be the best I could be at what ever I chose to do with my life”. I thank God for my talent behind a camera and my family Jessica, Kayla, D.J. and my mom Sandy for the love and support that allows me to continue doing what I love to do so much – take pictures.
Right page: Magic Johnson portratit taken in Atlanta, Georgia for a published bookwith Larry Bird.
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HORIZON PUBLISHING EXECUTIVE PUBLISHER & OWNER David Hammond, CEO Jayne Hammond, President ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Marc Serota SENIOR CREATIVE ART DIRECTOR Adriana Naylor artdirector@internationalopulence.com 954-331-3912 PRE-PRESS PRODUCTION ARTIST Adriana Naylor DISTRIBUTION Manopause Entertainment Larry Pollack, President Mike Essrig, CEO Julie Carruthers, COO DIGITAL MARKETING: Scott Goldman/Zen Digitals GENERAL COUNSEL Barry Weiss bweiss@csiinternational.com International Opulence Magazine is published by Horizon Publishing LLC.
In this photo Serota is captured while shooting Shaq during Miami Heat Media Day with a basketball in his mouth. The story behind this photo and the picture being snapped is on Pg.7 of this book
Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved. Horizon Publishing LLC, 6700 North Andrews Avenue, Suite 400, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 – WINTER 2020
Marc Serota is world reknowned and an award-winning photographer, having logged 15+ years with Reuters news agency shooting the biggest News, Entertainment and Sports stories from 1985-2020 including Super Bowls, National Championships, the Olympic games, the World Series, the Stanley Cup, the Daytona 500, PGA events around the country and the NBA Finals. As a news photographer Serota has covered everything from natural disasters and the Presidential Elections to the Academy Awards and the MTV Music Awards. He has most recently been contributing images to Corbis, the Associated Press and Getty Images in mostly the Sports and Entertainment world. Marc is also the pictorial biographer of over a dozen coffee table books with Hall of Fame athletes and celebrities like Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, John Elway and Dwyane Wade and entertainment books on superstars like Brittney Spears and K.C. and the Sunshine Band.
Photo Credit: Wilfredo Lee/ Associated Press
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The opportunity to photograph some of the true greatest of all time athletes doesn’t come along often. There are many All-Stars, Hall of Famer‘s and World Champions that will never be deemed the “Greatest Of All Time“, but LeBron James is arguably 1 or 1A to anyone who would use the term greatest basketball player of all time. Photographing some of the greatest NBA players of all time is character building. Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, Kevin Durant, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson and the list goes on and on, those experiences were life changing. When the big three of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade teamed up in Miami, I would always look forward to media day photo sessions. The opportunity to photograph LeBron James in a studio setting with any kind of lighting I desired for the four years he played for Miami was an absolute privilege. My favorite photo session with LeBron James took place in Beverly Hills, California where I shot the cover of this book while on assignment for a commercial client. I had the opportunity to photograph LeBron in street clothes and got him to stick out his tongue and make one of the most iconic pictures that I possess in my portfolio.
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SHAQ Shaquille O’Neal a.k.a ‘Shaq Diesel’ – ‘The Big Aristotle’ -‘Superman’ and ‘Shaq Daddy’ was one of the greatest big men the NBA has ever seen. I have been fortunate to have photographed Shaq many times on and off the court. My all-time favorite shoot with him was when I let a little bit of air out of the ball, prior to our shoot, so he could squeeze it and make it look like he was going to pop it. Then he said “I have a better idea” and he put the ball in his mouth. The rest was history. By the way, I had to stand on a chair to get to his level…see page one.
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This photo of Lebron James was taken prior to a game against the New York Knicks where King James wore the infamous black mask for just one night only. I positioned myself in front of his agent as he was preparing to play his first game since breaking his nose, and as Lebron was introduced, the red flames from the pyrotechnics lit up his face and the entire arena. It looked like he was staring directly at me. This photo became iconic, not only because of the eye contact on the court, but because the NBA deemed the black mask illegal and forced him to wear a clear mask moving forward.
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Shaquille O’Neal and Dwyane Wade pose for photos shortly after they teamed up with Pat Riley to deliver to the Miami Heat their first NBA championship. The two not only wound up being great teammates as Shaq deferred leadership to Wade, but also good friends. Next page top: Kobe Bryant flashes his signature smile as he prepares to play in the gold medal game at the London Olympics. Next page bottom: Kevin Durant glares at the opponent’s bench prior to competing for a gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
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NBA champion big men Dwight (page 12) Howard and Alonzo Mourning (this page) pose for photos during photo sessions for Sports Illustrated magazine. This page top: Dwight Howard shows off his muscular physique during warm-ups prior to a playoff game in Orlando. This page bottom: Alonzo Mourning
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As the debate over who is the real G.O.A.T of the National Basketball Association one thing is for certain, both MJ and Lebron were truly the greatest of their era and nobody else comes even close.
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DWANE WADE Dwyane Wade is as essential to Miami sports as Dan Marino, Don Shula and Alonzo Mourning. Miami Dade County deemed “Wade County” was owned and operated by none other than Dwyane Wade for most of his 17-year career. Although D Wade went to the Chicago Bulls and the Cleveland Cavaliers for two seasons, he spent the bulk of his time championing for Miami and backing up his words with titles.
Odell Beckham Jr. is one of the top wide receivers in the NFL and he is known for his spectacular one-handed catches.
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Without a doubt two of the greatest NFL quarterbacks of all time. Dan Marino (this page) and Tom Brady (next page) have at one time held or currently hold more records than any two quarterbacks in NFL history.
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Two legendary Hall of Famer‘s Terrell Owens (this page) and Ray Lewis (next page) pose for iconic photos.
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Peyton Manning (this page), Jason Taylor (inset) and Ricky Williams (previous page) all made their marks as Pro Bowl players with Taylor already in the Hall of Fame, Manning not far behind and Ricky Williams possessing Hall of Fame character. It’s an eclectic group. Shooting American Football is by far my favorite sport to cover – mostly because you can go anywhere around the field from end zone to end zone – side line to sideline. You really have to do your homework to catch key plays in a football game knowing the tendencies of the star players and coaches as well as the offense and defense as a whole. Moving into position right before the defense picks off a pass and takes it the opposite direction for a score is an awesome feeling, especially when the competition is 100 yards away on the opposite end of the field watching you get the shot.
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BY SARAH KERN
OLYMPIC GAMES I recall the first time I photographed the greatest Olympic swimmer of all-time Michael Phelps. When the starting gun went off I unloaded my camera on him as he passed by from my right to my left, I quickly glanced down at the back of my camera noticing I did not have one frame in focus. As he came back, this time from my left to my right, I unloaded my camera again and then it was over. That quickly the race was over. I recall praying that I made at least one frame in focus – fortunately I did ,but I sure was nervous since it all happened so fast.
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FENCING
As far as the Olympics are concerned an all-around better style of tournament competition does not exist in the world. The Olympic games are the peek of amateur competition and from the very first heat of the very first event, all the way to the Gold Medal rounds the athletes give it all that they have. These athletes train their whole lives for a competition that comes around every four years. Just advancing to the next round means after all that training and discipline, you are still going home. A fan once told me that all the runners in the 100-meter dash know they can’t beat Usain Bolt but they all still want to get the chance to try. 26
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Something very memorable happened to me while shooting the fastest man on earth – Usain Bolt. I was on the finish line right next to the stands with the fans in the front row when a fan asked me – “do you get paid well to have a seat better than mine?” I said, “yes and asked do you mind telling me what you paid for that seat? He said “$3,000 and I asked –‘for 9 seconds of action is it worth it?” and he said, “yes”.
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Through the course of my career I have been lucky enough to shoot several Winter and Summer Olympic games. Along the way some iconic athletes, from Michael Phelps (pg. 24-25) and Usain Bolt (this page and pg. 27 bottom), The Team USA women’s Gold Medal National Soccer Team (pg. 26 bottom) Katy Ledekee, swimmer (pg. 26 top), Gymnast Gabriella Reese (pg. 29 bottom) to many other world class athletes in swimming, cycling, fencing, track and field and all other sports in between.
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The true beauty of this image is that it will likely never be seen like this again. This image was snapped atop the Beach Volleyball venue at Horse Guards Parade (Parliament is off limits to tourists other than the Olympics) in London, England during the 2012 Olympic Games. The chance that the Olympics will have the exact same venue in the same place in future Olympic Games is unlikely. This is a one of a kind image. Olympic Legends (photo previous page) and two-time gold medal winners Misty May Treanor and Keri Walsh celebrate their second gold medal. Little known fact: Walsh was pregnant at the time of their victory.
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Legendary boxing promoter Don King poses for photos prior to a promotion in Hollywood, Florida. Known for his iconic hair and coined the phrase ‘Only in America’. King rose up from time in prison to become a legend in the boxing world.
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This photo of ‘The Great’ Muhammad Ali was snapped in the very ring where he defeated Sonny Liston for the heavy weight title in the Miami Beach Convention Center. This is where he was promoting a movie on his life starring Will Smith many years later.
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This page: Heavyweight boxing Champion Wvladimir Klitschko, (next page) Pro Wrestling Legends Abdulla the Butcher & Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson (lower right) and Middle weight Boxing Champion Zab Judda (lower left).
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Covering Major League Baseball can be both exhilarating and maddening. A no-hitter is only exciting at the end of the game and a blow out is only fun to shoot at the beginning of a game, but photographing future Hall of Famers is always inspiring.
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Clockwise from L-R: Major League Hall of Fame hitter Miguel Tejada, Hall of Fame Atlanta Braves Pitcher John Smoltz, Hall of Fame sluggers David ‘Big Pappi’ Ortiz, Suzuki Ichiro and Yoenes Cespedes.
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Clockwise from L-R: New York Yankees Legend Derek Jeter, Boston Red Sox Pitcher Pedro Martinez, Pitcher Noah Sunderguard and both perennial All-Star’s Cal Ripken and Jeff Kent.
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Covering Auto Racing is always a thrill. The dangerous moments that make fans hold their breath evokes the same emotions from photojournalist’s and journalists alike. (this page) Jimmie Johnson, Dale Earnhardt and Mario Andretti, Indy Racing, (next page, both photos) Jeff Gordon racing legend of NASCAR.
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This photo shoot for Sports Illustrated was crazy. We had to be prepared to set-up immediately after the Championship Race on the track near the start/finish line. We needed to setup lights and smoke machines both inside the track and outside the track (about a mile walk around the track and thru the tunnel on turn four). Once set up ,a crew of eight had to stand by for four-hours (around midnight) until Jimmie finished all his media obligations. Johnson had won his second of seven Cup Championships. NASCAR actually had to borrow one of Jeff Gordon’s Trophy’s since they had not engraved Johnson’s trophy at the time of the shoot.
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No pictorial biography on Greatest Of All Time athletes would be complete without the Big Cat himself Tiger Woods. Known only as Tiger Woods, has changed the game of golf as we know it (and how journalists cover golf ). Woods has become known for his ‘Sunday red shirt’ with a Sunday victory at a PGA Tour event for almost two decades. If not for injury there would be NO doubt who the greatest golfer of all-time is and that my friends is El Tigre!
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Tiger Woods photographed on the west coast of the United States. Torrey Pines Golf Course, La Jolla, California.
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Pebble Beach, Northern California coast.
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This is a very memorable photo for me because it was an assignment that nobody else wanted. I was asked by Getty images to cover the world golf Hall of Fame induction ceremony‘s in Saint Augustine Florida, because Arnold Palmer was going to be inducting former President Dwight D. Eisenhower into the Hall of Fame. Ordinarily a Hall of Fame induction ceremony would not make an award-winning photo but in this case it did. I arrived at the venue early to where the press conference was being held, only to realize that there was a famous quote by Arnold Palmer on the wall behind the stage, so I set myself up to get a picture of Mr. Palmer walking past the quote as he entered the press conference. Much to my dismay he entered from the opposite direction and I thought my opportunity is lost. As the press
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conference concluded Mr. Palmer got up and walked out in the opposite direction giving me this magical photo. The story doesn’t end there. One year later I was asked to shoot the ceremony again. While I was setting up a little old gentleman came up to me and asked if I was Marc Serota. When I said yes he told me that Mr. Palmer had seen my photograph in a magazine and liked it so much he wanted a copy for his home. I told the gentleman that I would be happy to send it to him and he said that he figured I would do so and brought me a gift to show Arnold‘s appreciation. The gift was a signed flag from the 18th green at the Bayhill Country Club where Arnold Palmer holds his signature tournament. I found out in later years that photo also hangs in the conference room of the commissioner of the PGA Tour, knowing that it is shown there as well as in Mr. Palmer‘s home means the world to me.
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This was a memorable photo shoot because I was assigned by Sports Illustrated to make portraits of golfer Camilo Villegas after another Sports Illustrated photographer had to leave the shoot unexpectedly. I actually built this Plexiglas platform and sold the idea to Sports Illustrated. I had to find creative ways to get the golfer up on the platform, so I practiced photographing my assistant on the platform hours before the shoot. When Villegas arrived, he said, “what do you want me to do?” It worked out perfectly because the sun had a chance to fall in the sky which got very blue, and my philosophy is never to leave until I get the shot. I asked him to get up on the Plexiglas platform and pose like Spiderman which is how he lines up his putt. At first, he said “everybody shoots me in the same Spiderman pose”. I told him that I was going to do it differently than anybody else had and showed him the photo of my assistant on the glass. He got excited about the idea and got up on the platform. Once I had positioned myself, I realized that even though I brought an 8-foot-long piece of Plexiglas that was 2 inches thick, his left foot was cut off completely. While I was shooting and looking at the back of my camera to see my results, he asked me through the Plexiglas, “what does it look like?” I showed him and he said, “do you like it?” When I told him, I would prefer to have his foot as close as it can be in the frame, he raised up his leg so that it was in the shot. It was an amazing creative collaboration between us that made the shot what it is today.
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TENNIS
Maria Sharapova would be one of the G.O.A.T.S. if not for her epic battles against Serena Willaims.
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When people use the term G.O.A.T. it pertains to all athletes with no separation for gender and under these parameters Serena Williams is right there among the likes of Ali, MJ, Tiger, LeBron, Bolt or any other athlete on the planet. She is a true beast on the court and never disappoints when it comes to setting the stage for a dramatic tennis match. G.O.A.T.S. Opulence
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When talking futbol a.k.a soccer in the USA there are two legends that stand right up there with the immortals of the sport. Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo have re-written the record books and shaped the world for future futbol youths. These types of attackers make every moment on the opponent’s side of the field a dramatic scoring chance.
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PRINT Over the course of my 35-year career I have shot for all the major magazines on my photographer’s bucke list. From Sports Illustrated to TIME Magazine, from Newsweek to Rolling Stone and People Magazine, I have shot for them all. In addition, the list of newspapers in which my byline has appeared is long. The New York Times, Washington Post, L.A. Times, Boston Globe, The Miami Herald, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and many more have been kind enough to choose my images. Thru the Associated Press, REUTERS, Getty Images and Corbis my work has reached millions of eyes. The photojournalism medium does not lie. Sports Photography, News Photography and Editorial magazine work is the foundation of photojournalism, and today there are more Sports, News and Editorial web sites than magazines and newspapers combined. So in other words, there are pleanty of clients out there and a huge need for fluid content around the world. My approach is to make images that tell a story from scene setters and establishing shots. Aim for picture stories that cover it all from to tight features and strong character shots to wide angle establishing shots. People are the key to the most successful images by always providing add the human element.
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PUBLISHING These are some of Marc Serota’s authorized pictorial biographies. Hall of Fame NFL Quarterbacks Dan Marino, John Elway, Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, Kurt Warner and Tom Brady as well as NBA Legends Dwyane Wade, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Marc has also worked on many children’s books as well as pictorial biographies with musical legends Brittney Spears and K.C. and the Sunshine Band.
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