Geposted von spawnYzn,
Bereits letzte Woche drehte sich alles um Bilder und bleibende Eindrücke, doch diesmal sind es nicht die Bewegtbilder, die Zuschauer zu sehen bekommen. Heute geht es um die Fotografie, die Momente für die Ewigkeit einfängt. Wer wäre da besser geeignet, als die Nummer eins in der Esport-Fotografie, um Einblicke in ihre Arbeit zu liefern?


Einleitung - "Einmal lächeln bitte!"



Noch während das Publikum nach der Siegerehrung ihren Heimweg antritt, beginnen die Bilder im Kopf zu verblassen. Manchmal schneller, manchmal langsamer. Doch Fotos halten die größten Momente für immer fest und lassen uns erinnern. So zum Beispiel der emotionale Moment, als Christopher 'GeT_RiGhT' Alesund neben der Trophäe der ESL One Cologne 2014 sitzt und seinen Tränen freien Lauf lässt. Dieses Bild vermittelt ohne Worte, welchen Leidensweg, Druck und Stress der junge Schwede ertragen musste und wie sich all dies in diesem Augenblick des Sieges von ihm löste.

Aufgenommen wurde es von Helena Kristiansson. Sie ist es, die uns auf so vielen Events einige der - wenn nicht sogar die - schönsten Fotos schenkt. Viele träumen davon, ihr Hobby zum Beruf zu machen und dabei nicht nur Glück zu finden, sondern auch die schönsten Orte der Welt zu bereisen. Für wenige wird dieser Traum zur Realität, doch Helena kann stolz behaupten, es geschafft zu haben. Nach tagelanger Arbeit und vielen gelaufenen Kilometern nahm sie sich letztes Jahr in Köln kurz Zeit, einige Minuten über ihre Leidenschaft und Arbeit zu sprechen.





Interview mit Helena Kristiansson, Fotografin



In Vorbereitung auf diese Interviewserie wurden mehrere Interviews, beginnend Mitte letztens Jahres, über einen längeren Zeitraum geführt, um mögliche Verzögerungen in der Veröffentlichung der Reihe zu vermeiden. Entsprechend kann die ein oder andere Information bereits überholt sein. Wir bitten um Verständnis.

Please introduce yourself to our readers. Who are you and what do you do?


My name is Helena. I work full time for ESL as their lead photographer and I take photos of Esport.


Can you elaborate a bit on your career? How did you end up at the ESL?


I actually started volunteering 12 years ago at DreamHack and basically worked on every single volunteer team they had until I ended up in the photography team there, worked there for a few years and really fell in love with shooting Esport. It's really like my one true passion. And I wanted to do it more and more. Back then DreamHack didn't have many events like ESL did and so I thought this was my one chance to maybe do it full time. So I wrote a letter to them saying "This is what I can do, are you interested in working with me?" and they were like "Yeah, come over!". And that's two years ago now.


It's so much more and getting to tell these stories with pictures is what I live for…



You write on your homepage that there were several times you thought about quitting but you didn't. What kept you going?


Passion. It's feels like yesterday when I tweeted this when liquid won. It's like the insane emotions that you get. It's just so much more than a game. It's not just a game. It's so much more and getting to tell these stories with pictures is what I live for.


How did you end up pursuing a career in photography at all? Was there one special moment in life that made you realize you want to do this for a living?


Oh, that's a hard one. I have a degree in marketing. I used to work in marketing but I was taking photos on the side and I think it was more of a gradual change. It wasn't like a overnight decision. I used to have a portrait studio in Stockholm back in Sweden when I lived there and just freelance every now and then started pushing towards doing that more and more. So it wasn't like overnight change, it was more of a gradual one. A dream that just kept growing and I couldn't stop it.


Can you summarize in some sentences what your everyday work looks like before and during an event?


A lot of people ask me what do you do between events like this, is there any work for you between the events? Yeah, of course there is. I am already planning the next four or five big events that we have: assembling a photography team, making sure that all the equipment that we need is there, everything ships, planning, scheduling with teams from media days. All of these kinds of things need to be planned. I also work a lot with our editorial team and social media team to utilize the photos in the best way. I work with our sales teams with photos for recording. There is a lot more to it than just the few photos that you see on Twitter.


Do you exclusively work with ESL or do you work with teams and organisation to make player photos or something like that as well?


I am full time employed by ESL and right now there is no time to do anything else. I'd say on average I shoot two big events per month. In two years I've done 64 of them so this is my 65th event for ESL.


Is there any tournament or place you still want to go that's on your bucket list?


I want to shoot Esport in every continent of the world. I've done Asia, Europe and the U.S.. So yeah. The rest of that is missing but I have hopes. I think it will happen.


What are some greater or what's the greatest challenge in your job that nearly nobody knows about?


I don't know if people know but the lights, like light for photography and light for video, is very different. So all lights are obviously set up for our broadcast and for the viewers and not catered to photography specifically. So you need to learn how to push your camera to its very limits and then keep pushing that picture in the post when editing.


Do you have a favorite picture you consider your best work to date?


Oh.. thats super hard. I have a few and I think... hm... they might not be also the best picture but they were important at the time. I have a picture from the WCS finals in 2012 in Stockholm for Starcraft 2 and it's a picture of the whole Ericsson Globe Arena at the GG moment. That picture on its own got me very far. It will get noticed by a lot of people back when noone knew me. And I think also when Virtus.pro won in Katowice around 2014 with Pasha raising the trophy, that's also one of the more famous ones. Probably, GeT_RiGhT hugging the trophy and crying in Cologne - I believe also in 2014. Think these are probably one of them more like known ones. And also because there were less photographers back then. So the ones that I made stood out more, now it's more about creating. There will not longer be that one specific photo but it will be more about having a huge portfolio and they're all at a higher level. I think that's more of a goal now than taking one good photo.


I don't really feel the competition, I more see them as friends to grow and learn from and together with…



So Esport is going big in the last months and years. Has the competition amongst the photographers increased?


I think this is such a hard question. I don't see anyone as a competitor really. We're so few and I worked really hard and I was also lucky. So I'm in a very good position. I don't really feel the competition, I more see them as friends to grow and learn from and together with. And mostly I hire them for our big events. So to me they're just friends.


You're now a full time employee at the ESL but do you still work outside of Esport?


There's no time. I say this week I never worked less than 14 hours any of the day and some days were 17 to 18 hours. Then I take a few days off to reset and then it starts all over again. It's very hard work but I really really like it.


Nearly a decade ago Turtle Entertainment created the Esport award including a variety of categories ranging from journalists to photo of the year. With Esport going big, would you like to see them reintroduced?


I didn't really know it existed. But yeah, I think it's good to honor people who do well in the industry and to work hard for bringing our industry forward because it's a very special one. I think everyone that works in it is very emotional about it and I think that's what sets it apart from other industries. I think it's good to honor people who do well.


What's the equipment you're usually working with when attending ESL events?


I have a Canon 5 D-Mark II and a Mark III. I have all Canon L lenses so they're pro lenses, 24-70mm f/2.8 seventy, 70-200mm f/2.8, 16-35mm f/2.8 and fisheye 15mm f/2.8


What makes a good photo? Which criteria do you think has to be met for a really outstanding picture?


I think there are two main components. One is that it's graphically pleasing, like the lights are nice and the colors and the exposure and patterns and lines. Either it's one of those pictures or you capture the perfect moment. And if you capture the perfect moment it doesn't have to be technically perfect to be a perfect picture but you have to have either one of the two - if you don't have any it's not a perfect picture.


What's your view on the evolution of Esport? Where do you think it's heading and what do you wish to see in the future?


Up and forward. I think just in the past two years for the ESL it's a huge growth. And I'm just excited to shoot more big events and to see how they interact with the fans and to see the stadiums fill up. It's truly amazing to work with this.


Which tips can you get fans that may be interest in pursuing a career as a photographer?


Go to events and bring your camera! It's the only way. It's the only kind of photography that you can't learn from home, you really have to be at the event, you have to bring your camera and you don't have to be on the stage and take a good photo. You don't have to be even close to the stage to take a good photo. Just practice, practice, practice.






Ein Teil der Serie verpasst?
99Behind the Scenes #4 - Der Observer
99Behind the Scenes #3 - Der Lead Referee
99Behind the Scenes #2 - Der Headadmin
99Behind the Scenes #1 - Der Anwalt

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