Pierre Stevenin (France)
I have been a freelance photographer for 20 years and I specialized in sport events. As a photographer for the ZUMA Press agency, my work is published in newspapers and magazines such as The Wall Street Journal, Paris Match, Le Figaro Golf, Le Parisien, L’Équipe…
I discovered photography during a summer camp when I was 12. My teacher’s genius brought my passion for this art to the surface.
As years went by, I improved my skills in the family circle and a few years later, I was choosing sport photography – what an interesting playground!!!
The beauty of the gesture, the concentration, the precise positioning, the attitude, then a face, a body that is contorted by the effort, either by the joy of victory or the disappointment of defeat…
My philosophy of imagery: the art of movement in sport.
I have always been attracted to new photographic technology so I had been looking for a while for lightweight equipment which would allow me to produce high-quality shots. Chance played a large part as I found myself with a FUJIFILM X-T2 camera in my hand. I was astonished by its color accuracy, its noise management in high ISO settings – essential for indoor events or night races – and its dynamic range.
I was pleasantly surprised by the X-T2’s operation: a brilliant and highly-reliable autofocus (driven by various settings which meet most demands in sport photography), a frame rate of 11 fps… The equivalent of a high-end professional SLR.
For the photographers from my generation, FUJIFILM means a wide range of films. I can "use" them again via the film simulation modes such as Velvia, ASTIA, ACROS…
Moreover, every setting is within reach: aperture, ISO sensitivity, shutter speed, over-exposure, under-exposure… Like many of my colleagues, my number one enemy is weight. As far as I’m concerned, I used to travel with 25kg of photo equipment and had to negotiate constantly with the airport authorities to board an aircraft.
Today, I travel with half this weight for the same type of equipment. Everything fits in a backpack. To me, the X-T2 is the ideal reportage equipment.
