It can’t be easy to set the correct shutter speed to capture the majestic plunge — or bizarre expressions — of an Olympic diver dropping off the board at 35 miles per hour, let alone two synchronized divers flying down together.
Sports photographers’ snapshots of Olympic divers, often pictured grimacing, wincing, or making other distorted faces caused by the velocity of their fall while holding tightly onto their knees, had the internet in tears this summer (and during Olympics past). Getty Images Staff Photographer Quinn Rooney, who covered diving at the Paris Olympics this year, shared what it’s like to capture them in real time.
“The force and the spins from their dives can often make for interesting facial expressions as they strain their way through,” Rooney told Hyperallergic. It was the Melbourne-based photographer’s fifth time covering the games.
“I’ve always loved the water and the effects that it has on photography,” Rooney said. “Just a splash of water can totally change a scene.”
Some internet users have likened the mid-dive faces featured in these high-quality photos of Olympic divers, who have trained their whole lives for their moment on the springboard, to expressions of anger, surprise, or even … gestures only made while sitting on the toilet. Scrunched-up noses, taut skin, and exposed teeth can all be seen in the close-up shots of the moments before and after a diver hits the water.
One Instagram user summed it up perfectly in the comments section of a series of Olympic dives: “Kinda humiliating for such amazing achievements.” Other users have created hilarious collages of multiple divers’ wacky expressions.
But for Rooney, these expressions are a mark of incredible athletic agility. “You’re looking at trying to get them in the most athletic pose,” Rooney said. “For me, it shows the pressure that the divers are under.”
Behind every shot, photographers often vie for interesting angles in a sea of other photographers, sometimes relying on underwater equipment to capture angles not otherwise possible.
On August 6, Associated Press photographer Lee Jin-man shot Italian diver Giovanni Tocci folded perfectly in half as he crossed the middle ring of the Olympics logo behind him. Jin-man told AP that he arrived earlier than the other photographers to snag a more interesting angle than his competition.
“The challenge that you have at the Olympics as opposed to shooting a world championship is that there are a lot more photographers here,” Rooney said. “You’ll find some people are in position an hour or an hour and a half before the competition starts to get that one perfect spot.”
For Rooney, unlike most of the internet, it isn’t the divers’ faces that make the photos fascinating.
“Obviously, their expressions often can look quite strange, but as you’re shooting diving, you’re trying to get them in the most athletic pose,” Rooney said “Ideally, we’re looking for nice shapes.”
