PICTURES: Former Chron photographer to cover Winter Olympics in South Korea
Clive Mason, 50, works for Getty Images and will be among the agency’s 80 photographers at the event.
Originally from London, Clive has lived in Northampton since 1988, and took photos of Saints, Cobblers and Northants County Cricket matches for this newspaper.
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Hide AdThe first image that saw Clive pocket money from its publication was from a Cobblers game against Halifax, and appeared in the Chron in 1990.
“I thought to myself at the time ‘it doesn’t get much better than this’,” said Clive.
But it did. Clive moved to London in 1994 to work for Allsport (acquired by Getty in 1998), and has since travelled the world covering cricket Test matches in every Test-playing country, football and rugby world cup finals, Champions League matches, tennis Grand Slams, 6 Nations rugby clashes, as well as following the Formula 1 racing circuit to every round.
Next month in Pyeongchang, he’ll be a “roaming photographer” which gives him licence to walk around the mountain and snap a variety of events, from biathlon and cross-country skiing, to bobsleigh and snowboarding.
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Hide AdThe role will also give him the creative freedom to experiment.
“A lot of the events are at night so that’s going to be different,” said Clive.
“As long as you get the right shot you can be as creative as you like.”
Clive's favourite sport to shoot is the "fast and exciting" Formula 1 because not only does it mean he travels all over the world to cover it, it is also photogenic and lends itself to experimentation.
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Hide Ad“I’m very lucky. I’ve done everything I wanted to do in this ‘sport’," said Clive.
“The job sends you to some great places” he added.
Clive’s interest in photography began when he was six-years-old when his father taught him how to process a roll of black and white film and then make prints from it, in a makeshift darkroom.
At 18, he began working with several national daily papers and sports picture agencies.
His online portfolio can be seen here.