Chantelle Reid, GB Boxing: Before Paris 2024
Olympic and Elite Athlete Photography for Sport and Brands
Chantelle Reid boxes for Great Britain. I photographed her on 29 May 2024, three months before she flew to Paris for the Olympic Games, at a point when none of what came next had been decided. She went on to box at 75kg and lose a 3:2 split decision to Morocco's Khadija Mardi in the first round. A year later she took bronze at the 2025 World Boxing Championships at 70kg.
None of that is in these pictures, and that is why I like them. Wraps going on in a GB Boxing shirt. Boots being laced on the ring steps, looking straight down the lens. A punch thrown in front of a wall sized photograph of somebody else on a podium with a gold medal round their neck. This is the work that happens for years before anybody is watching.
Three of these four frames are made in the room's own light, working around the session rather than through it, because a boxing gym is built for boxing and not for a photographer. The fourth is lit on purpose, warm on one side and cold on the other. Both belong here. An athlete page that is all reportage has no cover image, and one that is all studio has nothing true in it.
More boxing: the AOP shortlisted project with Vivien Parsons at Afewee in Brixton, portraits of Lisa Moore at Lansbury ABC, and the Haringey Box Cup. The full sports photography portfolio is here, and commissions explains how a shoot like this runs.
If you are a governing body, a brand or an editor who needs an athlete photographed before the result is known rather than after it, get in touch.