Red Bull Illume has the most inspiring sports and outdoor photographers doing battle for the title of “Image of the Year.” The competitors’ most intense pictures will spend 2007 going around the world in a traveling exhibition.
They spend hours lying in the mud alongside a motocross course; they wait for that perfect hundredth of a second, in which the brightness of the champion’s smile competes with that of the sunlight; and they make their cameras’ shutters go click a hundred times, a thousand times at the wrong moment, until they manage the one, the ultimate picture. Sports and action photographers make athletes into icons, but they also shed light on (illume) the human behind the hero. Red Bull Illume shows the masterpieces that are created in the process.50 moments to remember
2000 photographers from 90 countries took part in this peaceful shooting match, and 45 of them clicked their way to the final round. Their 50 works – five each in the ten categories Wings, Playground, New Creativity, Lifestyle, Spirit, Energy, Close-Up, Sequence, Experimental and Illumination – will be exhibited at the foot of Little Nell Run in Aspen, Colorado, between 25 January and 4 February. On the evening before the actual opening, a big launch event will see the winners in each category chosen by a jury of experts.
The shoot of a lifetime
The jury – consisting of 37 photo editors from international sports and lifestyle journals – will also vote one of the photos “Image of the Year.” The winner of this honor can look forward to a very special award: he can invite a Red Bull athlete of his choice to any location on earth – and stage the photo shoot of a lifetime. His Image of the Year and the 49 hardly less breathtaking second-place motifs will at the same time embark upon a world tour. The exact stations of this outstanding outdoor exhibition can be found on the official website www.redbullillume.com.
Will Gadd
Andy Irons
