Behind the Lens: A 'Pro' Cycling Photographer
Dan Hutchinson's POV of gravel racing
This is slightly longer than normal, but please do strap in for the read. It’s from my friend, Dan Hutchinson. Hutch and I have known each other for years and he’s not just a friend, but an amazingly talented photographer. This past weekend, I flew him out to Santa Vall - these words are his experience.
It’s imposter syndrome, apprehension and realisation all in one. It’s a beautiful piece. I wish I could afford to bring Hutch to every race. His work is art, and I want everyone to see it.
Joe
The following words are from Dan Hutchinson:
Fate is a brave choice of words in all seriousness, but every moment I explained:
It’s just fate; luck if you will. I’m in the right place at the right time, you know? I was immediately shot down by professional riders and their sponsors.
Feeling crucified, with congratulations and a reminder that I deserved a place at the table, I stood alone, quiet and reserved through this whole process.
Prologue
I wouldn’t say I came from nothing; over my years of photography, I was moulded to document a lifestyle I actually lived. Not one that would grasp at the coattails.
So, when I met young Joe Laverick (I’ve never heard him be called anything else in our home town of Grimsby.) I was impressed by his enthusiasm and ability.
I knew I had some skill behind the lens and that he needed some help on the ol’ Instagram front. Funnily enough, I was doing okay on. Just raw stories of skateboarding, travelling with bands and being drunk as hell whilst doing all of the above.
The first meeting was pretty comfortable for me, Joe probably shit blue lights and thought ‘this guy is going to rob me’. If I remember right, we had a brief coffee at a local shop where our mutual friend Adam (also our mechanic) introduced us.
Let’s fast forward a touch. We’d ride at home together when we could - well when I wasn’t hungover, or sometimes still drunk. Fully knowing I’d just rolled in from a house party and on no sleep, we’d get on with the 3-hour rides and photo shoots. I’d sober up around 30 miles in, I guess I’d compare myself to the Hunter S Thompson of cycling.
I’d send over the shots to Joe, he’d upload them, and I’d quietly watch in the background how he grew from strength to strength.
It’s a big world when you dip your toe into any professional sport, especially away from home at such an impressionable age. BUT the lad stood on his own two feet, which is exactly what us northern England folk do.
Even when we were drowning, he made honest choices that left him in shit street. At one point I remember him telling me “I don’t know what’s happening”.
That’s a feeling I knew too well, with over 20 years of mistakes under my belt in many disciplines. So don’t be fooled; none of this happens overnight, and when it truly comes to the moment of truth, people will always notice the things we’ve been through to arrive here.
But, the here and now, let’s get into how the Santa Vall Gravel Race changed my life.
The Break
I’m usually on the bike alongside Joe, but due to injury, I did the driving thing. This paid off and made me think more intuitively about my work, a first for me as I usually let the work shoot itself by immersing myself in the moment. This isn’t just a job to me it’s documenting the life that I live.
Shooting the €15k bikes is cool and such, but spending time with your friend from your hometown on the side of a climb in one of cycling mecca’s hits differently. Money just doesn’t motivate me, and I guess that’s why my work shows something deeper than ‘here’s another expensive brand for likes on social media’.
Shoot some more, and we’re stoked. I leave Joe to do the pedalling stuff (lucky bugger) and I return home to sort and edit work. The edits were completed and uploaded to our drive within the hour; over 400 photos were done and dusted. I usually don’t brag about speed, but Joe appreciates it so it pays off briefly.
The work gathered the attention of some very important people within the industry, something I am not used to.
Not because my work doesn’t warrant the attention, but more because I’ve never been in this position before.
Remember this statement.
Imposter Syndrome
A brief pre-party at Castelli got me a little nervous; I must admit it’s hard to stand alone in a room where nobody knows your name. So I upped and left to shoot some work for Joe’s new bike release before the weekend of Santa Vall, the most over-competitive cycling outing I’ve ever seen.
I was LUCKY to secure a place in the car alongside Castelli’s finest to shoot the race.. The boss man performed the best reverse driving I had ever witnessed as the peloton tore towards us along the gravel roads of Spain. Bravo, Soren. I’m glad we bonded over that moment.
Just before this sheer excitement, I shot from the car moving along the motorway as we came alongside the race briefly, a moment that may single-handedly sign me into the books as a ‘great cycling photographer’ in some eyes.
Moments later, I had climbed onto a roof that pre-dated WW2 just to get the angle no one else would’ve thought to shoot. why? Because I came from skateboarding, a lifetime of being ‘cut from a different cloth’.
Take it how you will, but this is nothing I didn’t mention at the race and around the culture.
That said, what’s up with your ‘media’ teams with matching cameras, clothes and all stood around one rider? This is something that happens in every sport and at the highest and lower levels.
A pure waste of budget I’d say but what do I know? Apart from that, I walked away and shot what I felt would document the spirit of this race.
Day one was up, I had out work uploaded and in use within the hour again. Later that evening I’d noticed something had changed: a lot of followers on social media, people saying hello and congratulating me on my work.
Strange right?
Let’s be honest, it’s not strange. I’ve been around this in skateboarding - you make waves around people who are only used to seeing the ‘cool’ peoples work (which ironically all looks the same). Well, not the same, just predictable.
I always feel a little easy when life has offered me any sort of ego, so I knuckle down and become insular. I’m not made for the centre of the room in any sense of the matter.
Hey, this could be something…
Just before getting our heads down for stage two, Joe drops a bomb of ‘Oh you’re in Colnago car tomorrow’.
Want to hazard a guess of my thoughts? It wasn’t: ‘Oh my god exciting’. It was ‘You don’t ride Colnago Joe. Why are you selling me off?!’
A crisp morning at the start line and I meet ‘The Mafia boss of Colnago’. What an absolute champion this man is. We hit the road together, shared some laughter and ran up and down some dusty, muddy roads together… all whilst looking VERY Italian.
Of course, we spoke a little business, and he made me ‘an offer I couldn’t refuse’.
Reflection
The trip ended with some very pleasant words, emails being exchanged and my mind spinning with the quote:
“Your work is so poetic, it’s so in-depth. You should be more confident!”
I don’t think I could change the outcome of this trip if I tried, honestly, I knew I wanted to up my chances at doing this all as a career alongside Joe and our little Grimsby mission to take over the cycling world… but now it may be possible for us in many ways.
I leave you with the kindest regards,
Dan Hutchinson
‘Professional’ cycling photographer
You’ll hopefully be seeing a lot more of Dan’s work this year. He’s coming out to Mid South with me, Traka, and hopefully Unbound, too.
Dan and I are from the same town, but that’s about where the comparisons of our backgrounds end. While our back stories are completely different, we became mates over our love of two wheels. Now that I can have Dan come out to races is pretty special.
I hope we grow to the point that I can have Dan around more often. Whether that be me winning more races and getting a bigger budget or the whole cycling world seeing his talent and hiring him.
Joe
While you’re here…
I’ve added a paid subscription and a ‘Buy Me A Coffee’ link to this post. As the year progresses, I’m planning on building this blog and putting out articles which I’ve always wanted to write but for whatever reason, haven’t wanted to pitch.
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/joelaverick
Project TAG, proudly partnering (for my athletic, influencing and maybe pee location ability) with…
That was awesome! Thanks for these perspectives. Am working on the moving images front and I totally get Dan‘s points.