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Anyone who’s shot a tennis match can tell you it’s not an easy sport to photograph. Getting the ball in the frame is one thing, but getting a clean, crisp, diverse series of images from a single event is a whole other ball game—no pun intended.
Earlier this month, London photographer Ben Pipe shot the second week of the French Open, AKA Roland-Garros, in Paris. After six days of hard work, Ben came back with a great set of images that showcase the dusty red brick courts of the Roland-Garros Stadium and the intensity of the players that competed (congrats to the winners, Stan Wawrinka and Serena Williams!).
According to Ben, this tournament is unique for photographers because they have the freedom to move about the stadium and essentially go wherever they want.
Any unoccupied seat in the stadium can be taken as a vantage point—there are the pits behind the baseline for the close, low-angle view, courtside, and higher positions which give a very graphic shot filling the frame with the red clay.
Tennis is one of Ben’s passions (he belongs to a club in London and spends his spare time on the court), so this was a great opportunity for him, despite the challenges.
It was hard work covering the event, once the play started it was non stop shooting, editing, captioning, sending then back to the start of the cycle as soon as possible to get the next match, but I had a great time and will try and get back to Paris next summer.
To see more of Ben’s work, visit benpipe.com.