Capturing the Strength of Saracens: A Dawn Rugby Photoshoot
First light, a poster portrait and a scrum
We shot at dawn, in the end, after the weather forced us to move the date. It was worth the reschedule. The low first light does something to a rugby pitch that no other hour will give you, long shadows, warm side-light across the shoulders, and a stadium that still feels like it belongs to the players rather than the crowd. Saracens Women turned up to it with real professionalism and grace, and gave me the morning.
Two frames carry the shoot. The first is a poster portrait of co-captain Lotte Sharp — formerly Lotte Clapp holding the match ball, lit so she reads clean against the stands. The second is the pack driving into a scrum in that same golden light, all weight and contact. What I wanted from the pair was the two halves of the sport: the individual who fronts it and the eight who make it possible.
What stayed with me was how they were with each other off the ball , the support, the trust, the small corrections offered rather than imposed. Lotte's interview alongside these images is about that too: growing up in the game, the self-doubt and anxiety she had to work through, and the confidence she found on a rugby pitch and then took everywhere else. Both images were later exhibited at the Kensington and Chelsea Art Show. There is a black and white series from the same club, shot closer in and later also exhibited at the Kensington and Chelsea Art Show.
The wider black and white series with Saracens Women is the match-day counterpart to this shoot. There's more sport in the portfolio, and if you're planning an athlete shoot or a campaign, let's talk about it.