Welcome to f/go. I'm Steve Kotvis, the guy on the backside of the camera lens of all these photos. I've been shooting and posting photos on this web site since February 2008. Wow, it's grown. Each and every day, some 5,000 photos are viewed on f/go. And on peak events, we get about 10,000 photo visits a day. Heck, we even had three days with about 30,000 photo visits per day last year.
The volume of people who come here makes it clear to me that f/go has become a popular place where enthusuiasts and supporters appreciate checking out the latest sports photography. I'm glad to know that so many of the images are being shared and printed for personal use. I'm also proud to know that our commercial uses have been expanding including our shots being featured in at least four of Minneapolis' high school yearbooks, as well as a number of local and national printed and online publications. We've got a growing base of followers/friends on Facebook and Twitter too, so the social network is growing. And perhaps most rewarding, I rarely go to a sporting venue that someone doesn't already recognize the f/go name, even if we've never before met. Cool.
This growth prompts me to explain to you a little more about who I am and why I am doing this f/go thing. The simple answer to why I shoot is that I love the idea of capturing the essence of sport. You know, that Sports Illustrated shot. The flash of an instant something really big has just happening -- the outstretched reach for a caught ball, the change in balance and power in wrestling, the perfection of beauty and strength of a gymnastics move, the smack of a volleyball kill, the sweet crack of the bat against a baseball, the crunch of a football hit, the intensity of a swim stroke, the muscle strain of a sprinter, the lunging save of a soccer or hockey goalie -- They're all great. Really great to live on in memory when captured just right with a photograph.
I've been developing my technical skills to help capture such moments. I shoot more days in the week because practice approaches perfect. And perfect moments differ for each sport. I'm working on my Associates degree in Photography and Digital Imaging from Minneapolis Community & Technical College, and regularly attend workshops at Mpls Photo Center to get new ideas. I constantly meet and learn valuable lessons from fellow enthusiasts and professional photographers.
But technically capturing these moments tells just part of my story. Perhaps based on my own embroidered weave of a past with its multiple frames of reference, I find the camera as a friendly accompanyment to promote an important personal belief; belief in and commitment to today's youth.
Today's youth is tomorrow's future. And I see wonderful things in our youth when I take pictures of them in sport. I see wonderful things that I hope others will see. I received an email from a Minneapolis North High School mom who captured this sentiment when she thanked me for taking the pictures of the boys on the football team. She appreciated that the boys had photos to see themselves in such positive way, that helped them see their hard work was paying off and being appreciated, that their friends and families could see them, and that people everywhere in the city could see these boys in such a positive way. Yes, that feeback was a real treasure. It so captured why I take so many of these photos.
As someone who's worked in advertsiing and marketing for about half of my career, I recognize the value of imagery, symbols and associations and how they affect identity. The old saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." is farthest from the truth. Today's youth, especially those who don't hear it everyday, need a sense of positive encouragement, demonstration that we believe in them, and a commitment to the public schools they attend. We need to help today's youth develop their own healthy sense of identity.
As a sports photographer in our high schools, I can see the good and the hope in our youth. With my camera and lens, I am compelled to help others see our urban youth in a more positive light so that we may effectively invest in our future.
High school sports especially is a most powerful venue.
High school sports is a wondferful uniter. Sport uniquely brings together students from all backgrounds for a common cause. It engages youth who might not otherwise find relevance to their school. It joins teachers, school staff, parents, alumni, and boosters from a greater community.
High school sports is rare pinnacle of performance and purity. For vast majority of student athletes, high school sports is the high water mark of their athletic careers. For many students and their families, it's the culmination of youth sports and recreation. It's the best that it gets!
As public education budgets get cut or as greater portions of school budgets get categorically committed to other uses, high schools are loosing support of vital athletic and extracirricular activies. Minneapolis Public Schools, like many other urban public schools, face unique challenges. The diversity, changing populations, highly mobile and less wealthy city neighborhoods and schools makes it more difficult to create and sustain youth athletics alumni and booster clubs. And while the city's youth leagues often do well starting out kids in sports, by high school the best athletes and their families are among the first to get channeled into "power" schools, schools where talent, prosepcts of winning and resources for facilities become concentrated. Success begets success and I have witnessed suburban and small town cable television and radio programming, complete with live announcers, broadcast high schoolers' volleyball, basketball, football, hockey and baseball games. Student athletes getting this media support is wonderful! But it shouldn't be limited to schools outside the city of Minneapolis.
Supporting high school student athletes who participate in Minneapolis or other urban schools is no less important than it is elsewhere. I have witnessed student athletes who demonstrate focus, dedication and committment towards executing a task and reaching their goals. Through the lens I can see the selflessness, support, comradare shown among fellow teammates through thick or thin. Happy, sad, elated, disappointed, the raw emotions experienced in sport strips away pretenses and melts facades, showing real, genuine, authentic kids.
I appreciate knowing that today's youth, tomorrow's future are experiencing what playing high school sports offers, building confidence in oneself, and trust in one another. In sport and beyond, these student athetes are learning what it means to win and to loose -- importantly with dignity and passion to experience it again another day.
So I hope that helps explain what's on my side of the lens as I shoot sports of all types.
Thanks,
Steve
Do you have an opinion, perspective or feedback? I'd love to hear brings you to f/go. And what you might want to see, or how we might improve it for you? I'd love to hear from you. Please email me by clicking here: Steve Kotvis
Soccer Clashes