Al Tielemans Photography
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Kobe Bryant, Lower Merion High School, 1995
Premier athletes are often great photo subjects for posed action like this. Besides the physical talent to do things others can’t, there’s often an innate comprehension of what 's necessary to create a dramatic visual image. Kobe was well past his seventieth shot when we pulled the plug on this session, yet he hardly seemed winded. He hung there and froze exactly where I asked every time. It was magic.
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Glen “Big Baby” Davis, Baton Rouge, LA
LSU’s Glen “Big Baby” Davis apparently had a history with dance. In search of a location I contacted the Baton Rouge Ballet. As luck would have it, the director taught at LSU and offered her campus studio and school dance team. Well, it turns out Glen only ever took one dance class, and only to meet a girl, but he was game for anything we wanted to try. I guess catching flak from your friends is easier if you’re an NBA lottery pick.
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Rynell Parsons, San Antonio, TX
Rynell was a San Antonio sprinter we photographed for a Where Will They Be essay. The great thing about young athletes is that proposing a dawn shoot still sounds interesting because they haven’t done it before. I hope this picture was cool enough to get Rynell to agree to the next photographer that proposes a pre-dawn call time.
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Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh, PA
I photographed Troy Polamalu for an SI cover where the planned headline was “Badass”. Animalistic on the field, I met Polamalu and found myself getting a gentle handshake and a whispery greeting. Badass?!. Late in the shoot I prodded him to thrust the ball at me and yell. After a few hushed purrs, he let it all out. Once he got into it the Steeler’s PR exec was shaking his head, “I can’t believe you got him to do this.”
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Dermotti Dawson & Jerome Bettis, Three Rivers Stadium
Steelers’ center Dermotti Dawson blocked for Jerome “The Bus” Bettis. The SI editors wanted a photo of Dawson in his stance with a bus in the background. It poured on shoot day so we made do with the front grill of a school bus. I shot pictures of Dawson in front of the grill, and then convinced Bettis to join in. The picture that ran: Dawson in his stance with the bus photoshopped out!
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Joey Logano, Lowes Motor Speedway, Charlotte, NC
Joey Logano endured hours on this steep bank at sweltering Lowes Motor Speedway as we prepped and awaited a break in the clouds. This beautiful flash of sun lasted 30 seconds. Packed into an SUV with my assistant and 400 pounds of gear, I challenged Joey to a lap. He blew by me on the second turn going high up on the track. I’d lost my nerve; I just couldn’t see us trying to flip that SUV back up if I rolled it.
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Terrell Davis, Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson
Terrell Davis entered his final NFL season in 2001 and Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson joined him in this shot for an SI training camp story. Gary and Anderson were just props, however, and I was a virtual bystander as Davis created picture after picture with his spontaneity and veteran presence.
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ESPN Gameday Crew, Tuscaloosa, AL
ESPN’s Gameday Crew was becoming a cult in 2003 and I was sent to Tuscaloosa AL to go inside the show. They strolled around campus like rock stars, but their meetings were all business. When they posed for this shot they had the best time…it was as if they were college kids garnering all this attention.
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Mike Tomlin, Mount Washington, PA
Mike Tomlin was to start his first minicamp as Steeler head coach just hours later, but there he was soaking in the Pittsburgh sunrise from Mount Washington. Given the reigns of one of football’s most successful franchises, he seemed unfazed. It was as if he had walked by and we’d asked him to jump into the picture for fun.
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Mario Andretti, Nazareth, PA
The key to a good portrait is creating an comfortable environment where your subject forgets you are present. Instead of a pose, you want them to simply ”behave” as they normally would. Easier said than done when you sit them on a stool surrounded by lights and fill cards. But when I handed Mario Andretti his dog, I ceased to exist.
