A Moment In Time
By Bobby Vance
Photography for many is not only a profession, but also an expression of an art form. For me, photography has been a hobby that has intrigued me from a very early age. Growing up in the deep South Texas town of Brownsville, my parents owned a fleet of shrimp boats that operated out of the Port of Brownsville, and in the summer of 1969 my Father took delivery of the first steel hull shrimp boat ever brought to the area. Built in Mississippi, it was years ahead of its time, complete with a refrigeration system designed to keep the catch frozen in the hole until the crew returned to port to unload.
When the boat arrived at the Port of Brownsville it was to be christened with a bottle of champagne, as is customary for any new vessel. Sporting a run of the mill Polaroid Instant Camera, at the ripe age of 11, I was given the honor of being the official photographer of the event and I somehow miraculously framed the bottle smashing on the bow of the vessel, glass breaking and champagne exploding from the blow. My love for photography instantly blossomed and I took that camera with me everywhere I went.
My love for photography grew and in college I worked as a staff photographer for the University Newspaper. This was well before the advent of the digital age, so all images had to be developed the old-fashioned way; in a darkroom with chemicals, photo paper and an enlarger. I recall using a Minolta Camera before finally graduating to a new Canon TX 35mm camera. Although all I was able to develop at the time was black & white images, I made the most of my time with my hobby and looking back on it, photography was one of the distractions that got me expelled from college, but that’s another story.
A picture, any picture is but a split-second moment in time that somehow freezes motion to capture that unique image, that moment in time that will never be recreated in quite the same way.
Today, I photograph Acrobatics and Tumbling Athletes at the club level for our gym. A&T is an amazing emerging collegiate sport that is not only spectator friendly but exciting to watch. Its high energy, fast paced events make for some interesting on floor images. Our gym was founded as an A&T specific gym in 2017 for a small group of Athletes who found themselves without a training facility but who were as passionate about the sport as their head coach was. Today the Acro Team consists of 50+ Athletes who makeup our four Competitive Teams and our Show Team.
The image below was taken at a recent competition in Dallas and was the inspiration for this article. As I was processing the image, I began to wonder about what each of the Athletes were thinking at that precise moment. Each had a very important role to make sure that the stunt went off without a hitch and more importantly, without an injury.
It’s a known fact that when a Quarterback in football throws a pass, only three things can happen and two of them are undesirable, however when these Athletes are tossed ten or more feet in the air, there is only ONE desired outcome, but an unlimited number of bad things that can happen. Even the slightest miscue by any of the Athletes involved in the stunt can result in failure, or worse, a catastrophic injury.
Strength, focus, precision and just plain old grit are the cornerstone of what these Athletes embody on a daily basis. So, when I look at these photographs, these moments in time, this 1/800th of a second, I can only imagine the thoughts that are going through their heads in that instant. The responsibility placed on the bases in this formation is enormous, the focus, strength and agility required by the flyer is equally incredible, and the trust displayed between all Athletes involved is unquestioned.
This moment in time; an opportunity to not only admire the raw talent of these amazing Athletes but a time to also imagine what thoughts are going on in their minds during those brief seconds of the stunt. To the audience it may be incomprehensible, but to the Athlete, its routine.
Countless hours of preparation, strength training and raw talent went into making “A Moment in Time”.
