Sports photographers face extraordinary dangers in their quest to capture the perfect moment, often putting themselves in harm's way for that one defining image. Ahead of the announcement of the 2025 Richard-Martin Prize winners, several photographers from L'Équipe magazine have shared their most harrowing experiences on the job, revealing the hidden risks behind spectacular sports photography.
"There are risks, but we don't take them," says Franck Seguin, editor-in-chief and photographer at L'Équipe, while showing photos taken among sharks. In a small office at the newspaper, he displays images on his phone of a large shark with its mouth wide open, looking distinctly unhappy due to a fishhook caught in the corner of its mouth. Another photo shows perhaps 50 sharks, with Franck shooting from below. "There's risk and there isn't. Normally, they don't attack. But it's true that there are many of them – if just one deviant decides to bite you, it could cause total panic, and the others might join in. The one with the fishhook was very agitated; you have to stay calm," he explains.
During a dive with free-diver Pierre Frolla, Seguin described the intense moment in his photo caption: "They're swarming everywhere! The beast in the foreground is 15 cm from me, the water is boiling all around, and I keep repeating to myself: Think about your framing, think about your framing..." This focus under extreme pressure is a common theme among sports photographers who must maintain their professional composure while facing genuine danger.
Sébastien Leban experienced similar pressure during an assignment on the hidden faces of Dubai, popular among champions. Working with reporter Thymoté Pinon, they gained access to a private zoo owned by Saif Ahmad Belhasa. "In one room, they brought us a gigantic python – it took three people to carry it. The zoo owner sat on a throne and posed with it on his lap. I got on the ground to take photos and realized there was a baby alligator in a corner. And a second one. Running free. I said, 'The alligators there, is that normal?' 'Don't worry!' Then he brought out a baby tiger and fed it meat, one meter from us. Same with an eagle," Leban recalls.
The situation escalated when the photographer was invited into a bear enclosure. "It was maybe 2 meters tall and 400 kg. We asked – it wasn't sedated or drugged. It's not extremely reassuring to be in a cage with a gigantic bear that could kill you with one swipe. I was always checking where the door was behind me, in case the other guy got swiped and I was next on the list! You're aware of the danger, but you're there to do the job, you stay focused on your thing. You just evaluate the possibilities in case of problems."
The dangers aren't always immediately apparent when viewing the final photographs. Skiing photography, for instance, requires photographers to have skills far beyond beginner level, as they must scout the slopes to find the best positions for optimal shots. Sébastien Boué learned this the hard way during his first year at Kitzbühel, Austria. "I quickly understood the problem. The slope is like an ice rink with small bumps, your skis don't grip. Plus, you have equipment on your back, you're panicking. You can't stop, you can't brake, you can't turn, you can't do anything." When asked how he manages, Boué admits: "Well, sometimes you stop in the safety nets! Now, when it's too dangerous on a slope, I put on crampons and start from the bottom."
At Wengen, Switzerland, Boué encountered the infamous "Tête de chien" section, where skiers reach such speeds they become airborne and land 40 meters away. "The first time, I went up to the start and after a while I saw a place that dropped straight down with people descending on ropes. I thought: 'Damn, where's the slope?' And I turned around." He was actually on the slope itself – so he removed his skis and rappelled down.
The Tour de France presents its own unique risks. Photographers ride on the back of press motorcycles, descending mountain passes at speeds of 60-75 mph. On July 15, 2016, during a time trial stage, photographer Bernard Papon was riding behind driver Marc Meilleur when they collided with a car stopped in the middle of the road during a climb back to the start. "I see the scene. We know we're going to crash into the car. Marc brakes hard. I reflexively get into a crouch on the footrests, butt lifted. I prepare for impact. I flew over the motorcycle then over the car. A gliding flight! It happens very fast," Papon remembers.
Miraculously, Papon escaped without a scratch, though his camera equipment was completely destroyed. "I look at myself, I feel around. Not a scratch. A small miracle! However, the next day I was like an old man, aches everywhere. But nothing else." The shock of seeing his seriously injured driver was harder to bear than his own physical ordeal. Two years later, a second motorcycle crash during the Tour at Lorient ended worse for the photographer – a triple fracture of the tibia and fibula.
Political tensions add another layer of danger to sports photography. Papon and colleague Stéphane Mantey found themselves detained by Hezbollah in Lebanon during the 2000 Asian Cup. While photographing children playing soccer, they accidentally discovered a tank hidden under a tarp when retrieving a ball. "We fell upon a tank hidden under a tarp. We looked a bit, took the ball and returned to the field. Five minutes later, Hezbollah guys arrived and asked us questions in Arabic," Mantey recalls. They were taken to a shop with the metal shutter closed behind them, their film and memory cards confiscated.
"It was after the hostage-takings in the region, we started imagining scenarios. During the trip, I discreetly hid a roll of film, I didn't want to lose my photos," Mantey says. After a tense half-hour and phone calls, they were released, with their captors even asking them to take photos together with the children.
Football fan violence represents perhaps the most unpredictable threat. "In our profession, the real risk is rather football supporters. I've already been hit in a supporters' section. It's unpredictable. You have some jerk who decides to kick you because he saw your camera, his friend will find it funny and give you a second one," Mantey reflects. Sébastien Boué experienced this firsthand during the Lyon-Besiktas match on April 13, 2017, in the Europa League. "One of my worst experiences. On the plaza, these weren't fights anymore, it was civil war. You come to take football photos and it goes to hell, fighting everywhere and you're in the middle, telling yourself you have to go take photos. It was intense, glass shards were flying over our heads. Frankly, I don't know if I'd go take this kind of photos again. It's too dangerous."
Some of the most extreme situations occur in conflict zones and high-crime areas. Franck Seguin traveled to Rio with reporter Karim Ben Ismaïl before the 2016 Olympics to follow a BOPE operation – a special intervention unit with a shoot-to-kill policy whose previous week's operation had resulted in 64 deaths. "That's what I found most dangerous," Seguin admits. "Helicopters were circling, we went up into the alleys with guys who had assault rifles in hand, knowing they shot to kill. There was a real risk of being caught in heavy gunfire." Ironically, despite having followed French military in Afghanistan in 2008, just months after an ambush that killed ten French soldiers, Seguin found Rio more threatening.
Maritime photography presents its own deadly challenges. Bernard Le Bars, an independent sailing photographer and former Paris firefighter, experienced his biggest scare at the start of the 2022 Route du Rhum off Saint-Malo. "Racing boats are going faster and faster, over 30-35 knots, so it's increasingly complicated to follow them, especially in rough seas. To shoot, I had to climb onto a kind of elevated platform. I was taking a lot of water in the face. Our boat was going fast and there was so much sea that at one point it swerved and I almost went overboard," Le Bars explains.
The violent collision with the rigging left him with an injured elbow, requiring a brace and sick leave. "They say that on a boat, you need one hand for you, one hand for the boat. But we need one hand to trigger and one for focusing. So we have to manage to brace ourselves without risking being swept away. When you look through the viewfinder searching for your photo, if your boat takes a wave sideways, you can be ejected. There's big danger," he concludes.
These testimonies reveal the extraordinary dedication and calculated risks that sports photographers accept as part of their profession, all in pursuit of capturing those iconic moments that define sporting history. Behind every spectacular sports photograph lies a story of courage, quick thinking, and sometimes sheer luck that allowed the photographer to live to tell the tale.
