May 26, 2010
602nds has had the opportunity to use some fantastic photographs of Pro-Cyclists with the interviews that we have published on our website. Many of those amazing photographs that have been published were captured by Belgian Photographer, Kristof Ramon. Kristof’s photographs are fast becoming very well known by cycling fans and the cyclists themselves, with a recent photograph of Fabian Cancellara being featured on the front cover of ‘Road Magazine’.
602nds thought it was about time we introduced the photographer who publishes his cycling work under the pseudonym ‘Kramon‘ to our readers and to find out about the man behind the camera.
602nds: Where does your passion for photography come from?
Kristof: When in film school, photography was one of the first classes we studied. I was immediately drawn to it and it stuck with me over the years. Even though I graduated as a ‘Master in Film’ I’ve always considered the still image equally powerful in its storytelling capabilities.
602nds: You are becoming well known for your pictures of cycling pro’s, what other work do you do?
Kristof: I started my pro-cycling photography as a personal project exactly 1 year ago (in the Spring Classic Brabantse Pijl / Belgium, 2009) but I have been active as a professional commercial photographer since 2008 (still alongside my freelance work as a TV and video director for Belgian National Television). I am mainly a portrait-photographer.
602nds: Your cycling project has a very unique way of capturing the rider, how did you decide this was how you wanted the pictures to look?
Kristof: In my commercial work I somehow photograph with the breaks on (ultimately you have clients to please…). The main reason for me to engage in personal work was that I didn’t want to feel restricted (creatively) in any way. I wanted to portray people in a very specific way (lighting wise) and wanted my pictures to have an extra ‘edgy’ look via post-processing techniques. I wanted the riders to look heroic before they engaged in battle by portraying them BEFORE the race. After doing this for a while in a very specific style I decided to experiment even further and just looked for ways to photograph cycling ‘in a different way’, trying NOT to shoot in a traditional way. This often meant walking around team buses with very awkward looking lighting constructions around me just to try out new stuff… much to the delight of many riders I must say.
602nds: Out of your cycling project is there one image that stands out ahead of others? And what is it about that picture?
Kristof: Over the first year I’ve been doing this, there are several pictures that stand out for some reason. Be it because of the technique in the making or the short personal encounter that goes with the taking of the picture. But one of my favourite pictures is a photo of Mikhail Ignatiev (Team Katusha) at Gent-Wevelgem2009. It’s everything coming together: the pose, the light, the rider… That image was very important to me and in the further development in how I wanted to proceed with this project. As a sidenote here: somehow most Eastern riders have ‘an air’ of pridely manner about them that works very well for my ‘heroic’ portraits. I love that!
602nds: Is there one rider that you would love the opportunity to organize a proper photo shoot with?
Kristof: Several! I do have a little weak spot for the Anglo-riders, Northern riders and the exotic ones (like Japanese rider Fumy Beppu). But one guy I would love to do a proper shoot with is George Hincapie. I have big respect for him as a rider and he seems like a very interesting character. Yup; ‘Captain America’ would be nice!
602nds: Do you hope that you can use your love of cycling photography to become a full-time job?
Kristof: Yes. But with my background as a video director I also see motion content becoming part of that job.
602nds: You photograph both road and cyclocross riders, is there one you prefer more than the other?
Kristof: I do prefer road-races: they are more international and have a greater amount of athletes to portray. It is pro-cycling on a much bigger scale. But saying this is like saying ‘I prefer vanilla over chocolate ice-cream’; I simply love them both!
602nds: CycloCross is not well known here in Australia and in some other countries around the world. Your photographs have drawn myself & I’m sure many others into to finding out more about the sport, how do you feel that your photographs can bring people into a sport they haven’t had anything to do with?
Kristof: I would be very honored if my pictures would do that and be helpful in internationalising the sport because it needs it desperately. It’s a wonderful sport: extremely intense and technical and very crowd-friendly.
602nds: What photography equipment do you use, and is there a piece of equipment that you would love to have that you believe will improve your pictures?
Kristof: I’m convinced that my best chances of improving as a cycling photographer lays in just keeping on doing this. The more you do it, the better and faster you get. The one other thing that might help me immensely is opportunities to shoot during the race. I’ve never worked with any accreditation, which means I cannot actively get into a pro-race… places are very restricted. We’ll see how that works out in the future.
As for gear: I use a pro-camera and lenses. I have my Speedlights. So most of the things I can think of I can do (theoretically). I have some lighting-ideas for big studio lights I don’t own. But my next focus would probably be in trying to capture the same atmosphere as my pictures in video. 2010 will bring that with it I guess and hope.
602nds: If you were offered to come and photograph one of the Professional cycling teams for a season, who would it be and why?
Kristof: I just did Paris-Roubaix inside one of the support cars of HTC-Columbia. That was amazing! Also Bob Stapleton liked my work and suggested that more of these opportunities might be possible. I’d love to take him up on that sometime soon. But working for and inside several teams over time is what I’d love to do. Especially the ‘newer’ teams got my interest: Sky, Saxo, Cervélo, BMC, Radioshack, Garmin,…
602nds: And along the same lines, if you were offered to be the official photographer for one race, what race would it be and why?
Kristof: The obvious thing to say here is The Tour’ of course, and I would love to do it at least once… but I would love to ‘pick’ one of the contenders and start following and photographing him way before the actual event. Say, starting in winter and follow him all the way to Paris. That would be awesome!
602nds: Is there a photographer that you would love to work with?
Kristof: My countryman Stefan Vanfleteren who has a very unique style and who often portrays cyclists. He is a man who I look up to. I’d love to see him work up close.
602nds: Is there a cycling picture that you have seen and wished you had taken the picture?
Kristof: Only about a zillion.
Kristof has provided 602nds with a group of his favourite cycling photographs that he would like to share with our readers.
1. Mikhail Ignatiev, Gent-Wevelgem 2009
2. George Hincapie, Gent-Wevelgem 2010
3. Team Saxo Bank, Paris-Roubaix 2010
4. Fabian Cancellara, Paris-Roubaix 2010
5. Fumiyuki “Fumy” Beppu, 3daagse van West-Vlaanderen 2010
6. Tyler Farrar, 3 Daagse van De Panne 2010
7. Bjarne Riis, Amstel Gold Race 2010
8. Tom Meeusen, Superprestige Vorselaar 2010
9. Klaas Vantornout, Superprestige Vorselaar 2010
10. Zdenek Stybar, Parkcross Maldegem 2010
11. Enrico Franzoi, UCI WorldCup Hoogerheiden 2010
602nds would like to thank Kristof for taking the time to catch-up with us and for letting 602nds publish his photographs with our interviews. We are also looking forward to watching how the cycling pictures are captured on video and your next set of photographs.
If you would like to view more of Kristof’s amazing work, which I highly recommend you do, you can check out at his website: http://www.kramon.be/.
Kristof Ramon
Photography Courtesy of Kristof Ramon
Visit Kramon’s Flickr gallery for more images
