Back in the summer, I spent an afternoon photographing a rather special rowing club in Leeds on an editorial assignment for British Rowing. The organisation’s CEO and former Team GB Olympic rower Tom Solesbury was visiting GORSE Boat Club to learn more about its pioneering programme introducing young people across the city to rowing.
It was one of those assignments where there was a much bigger story behind the photographs, and one I really enjoyed documenting.
Making Rowing Accessible to Young People in Leeds
GORSE Boat Club is part of The GORSE Academies Trust, which has been introducing rowing to students across its Leeds schools since 2016 – Including my son who rowed with GORSE a few years ago, before the new boathouse opened.
What’s particularly interesting about the programme is how it creates opportunities for young people who might never otherwise have considered rowing as a sport.
Students are introduced to rowing through their school curriculum, with opportunities to progress into regular training and eventually competitive rowing.
And it’s clearly working. Shortly before my visit, the club celebrated winning gold in the J14 Coxed Quads at the National Schools’ Regatta, competing against some of the country’s most established rowing schools and clubs.
An Afternoon Beside the River Aire
My assignment was to document Tom’s visit, capturing his conversations with the club’s coaches and young rowers, alongside the preparations and training taking place on the river.
It was an incredibly hot afternoon, right in the middle of the summer heatwave. I spent the best part of an hour standing on a bridge in the hottest part of the day, photographing the crews as they rowed along the River Aire. Not the coolest place to be, but it gave me a great vantage point to capture the action on the water!
What I particularly enjoyed was the opportunity to capture the quieter moments alongside the rowing action. The conversations, interactions and little details that help tell the story of the people involved.
It’s something I always try to bring to editorial assignments. Rather than simply recording what’s happening, I want the photographs to give a sense of the people, atmosphere and story behind it.
Read the Full Case Study
For a deeper dive into this project, my approach and to take a closer look at more of the images, check out the full case study in the Projects section.
