August 1: A Sports Photographer On What It’s Like Shooting The Tokyo Olympics
August 1: A Sports Photographer On What It's Like Shooting The Tokyo Olympics
Your lens to the internet's most powerful photographs.
 📸For Your 👀 Only:  Kohjiro Kinno Kohjiro Kinno is a California boy at heart, born and raised in the state's south. "My little thing for photography started in the burbs of Fountain Valley [taking pictures] of friends skateboarding," he told BuzzFeed News. He's been at it ever since.
As a sports photographer for Sports Illustrated and news outlets around the country, and as a photo editor for the Golfer's Journal, his best photos of sports transcend the celebratory or painful moments and become art.
Tokyo 2020 is his fifth Olympics, and his images of athletes and their medal-winning (or losing) performances have been a high spot for me during the coverage. In between events and shuttles, he managed to find some time to speak to BuzzFeed News about the Olympics and the moments that he doesn't photograph.  Kohjiro Kinno How did you get into photography, and how did you get into sports? Was there a relationship between the two before you started doing this professionally? I first started with skateboarding. I thought I was going to be a big-time pro someday. Yeah, that was just a kid from the suburbs who hadn't been outside the area thinking I was the only one thinking that. I started taking photographs of friends skateboarding, and I really got into the photography side of skateboarding, which led to working for my high school yearbook, and majoring in photojournalism in college and onward.
You've been photographing sports professionally for 20 years, if not more. How did you figure out that this is what you wanted to do with your life?
It was and has been the only thing I have continued to be interested in. Photographing athletes, movement of athletes, the behind the scene of their training, documenting what they go through and then some get to the ultimate achievement of the Olympics. I've been practicing a Japanese budo/martial art called kendo since I was 9 years old. I've been able to travel in the States and internationally for training and a few tournaments. Some very close friends have gone on to compete at the international levels, and to see that and be the one documenting it, that is pretty freaking cool and I just love it.  Kohjiro Kinno What was a hard lesson you learned early on in your career? It's a cliché thing to say, but I'm learning everyday. I learned today to always carry a rain jacket at all times and rain covers [for the cameras] when in Japan during monsoon season.
What has it been like traveling to Japan for the Olympics? It hasn't been anything too crazy. Just coronavirus tests, forms, links, apps, masks, a lot of food from 7-Eleven. It has all gone smoothly and the Tokyo Organising Committee, the country, volunteers, everyone has been doing their best to accommodate and help out all of the media in attendance. I wasn't excited to photograph any one athlete or event in particular, but of course I did enjoy photographing skateboarding.
How many Olympics have you been to, and what are the biggest differences covering them in a pandemic?
I've been to Athens, Beijing, London, Vancouver. I shot Athens myself, and was an assistant for the others. The biggest difference this year is obviously the no spectators. As a Japanese citizen myself, I know this would have been an epic event for the people of Japan to come out and watch. Instead, it's completely empty arenas, stadiums, where you can hear conversations on the other side of the gym.  Kohjiro Kinno
You have covered golf from a blimp, from the ground, from … I don't even know where else. Did this Olympics present any new challenges? The biggest challenge is the same at all levels, just trying to get something unique when there are literally over a thousand photographers from all over the world trying to capture the same thing. These are the top sports, and the top editorial photographers in the world all here. Access is different for some outlets, but I don't like to use that as an excuse. Instead, it's a motivation to capture something unique from my spot.
What's one sport that you've photographed that's completely different at the Olympics? Skateboarding maybe. Most of the core, grassroots skateboarding is out in the streets, not at a skatepark. There are lots of skateparks opening all around, but at its core it's all street based. Not a bad thing, but just different, I guess.
What's the best sports/life moment you've ever seen that you didn't get a photo of? Nothing in particular, but I was able to take photographs with my wife when our son was born. I photographed a tiny bit of it, but I don't necessarily need a photo of everything and anything. Some things don't need a photograph, and it's better to be in the moment with family and friends. I am a big Lakers fan, though, so maybe Robert Horry making that 3 against the Kings in the 2002 playoffs would have been nice!  📸FROM OUR DESK 📸 As always, here are some of the best photo stories from around the internet, and what we loved from our desk. PHOTOGRAPHS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS ON THEIR JOURNEY TO ANOTHER LIFE  Hailey Sadler THESE SIMONE BILES PICTURES EXIST TO REMIND YOU WHY SHE'S THE GOAT  Ezra Shaw / Getty Images GORGEOUS PHOTOS SHOW WHAT THE LAST TOKYO OLYMPICS LOOKED LIKE IN 1964  Bettmann / Bettmann Archive
THIS IS THE HOTTEST TATTOO AT THE TOKYO OLYMPICS  Lintao Zhang / Getty Images SOME HOPE  Lintao Zhang/Getty Images Happy tears ONLY, PLEASE! From Sunisa Lee's win to Pusarla V. Sindhu of Team India celebrating, these are by far our favoring Olympic moments. "We are making photographs to understand what our lives mean to us." — Ralph Hattersley That's it for this week! Kate, Kirsten + Pia
📝 This letter was edited and brought to you by the News Photo team. Kate Bubacz is the photo director based in New York and loves dogs. Pia Peterson is a photo editor based in Brooklyn. You can always reach us here.
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