Sports photography
Exhaustive and innovative coverage
AFP’s sports photo coverage is recognised as the most comprehensive, especially during major world sporting events.
The talent of AFP photographers is recognised, and they have won numerous international awards including the British Sports Journalists’ Photo of the Year award in 2012, the Press Photographer’s Photo of the Year award in 2013, three awards at the UK Picture Editors’ Guild Awards in 2012 and five prizes at the 2013 “Sportfolio” in Narbonne.
Sports photography at afp: always ahead of the game
Some figures:
- 650,000 sports photos produced in 2012.
- Between 2005 and 2012, sports production was multiplied by 6.
- Sports production represents 51% of the photos distributed by AFP.
Some records:
- 2010 Football World Cup: clients received the first photos two minutes after the opening match kick-off.
- Euro 2012: AFP beat its own record by transmitting images from the trophy presentation in only
- 2012 London Olympics: after Usain Bolt’s victory in the 100 metres, 100 pictures were sent to the media in less than 10 minutes.
Some innovations:
- Remote editing, used during Euro 2012, made it possible to reduce the time between shooting the image and delivering to clients to just 1 minute 30 seconds.
- During the London Olympics, AFP, a pioneer in the use of underwater robots, placed 12 robotic cameras at the bottoms of the pools, on the stadium roofs and in the ceilings of the gymnasiums in order to get different camera angles.
- At the 100th Tour de France, AFP innovated by equipping its motorcycles with antennae continuously oriented towards the satellite position, enabling photographers to transmit their pictures almost instantaneously during the race. This set-up made it possible to transmit an 8 Mb photo in less than a minute, without interrupting the pursuit of the peloton during the stage.
