Red Bull Exclusive: Marcin Kin conquering mountains through his passion for photography
Qatar Living has teamed up with Red Bull Qatar to bring you some unique content and highlight some of the unsung heroes behind the amazing work that goes into capturing the golden moments of some of the Red Bull athletes.
In this series, we'll showcase five of the best photographs selected by the photographers themselves. We'll also use the opportunity to get to know the photographers.
For our exclusive feature this week, we caught up with Red Bull photographer Marcin Kin to find out what inspired him to take up sports photography as a career.
Q: Tell us a little about yourself; where are you from, age, favorite discipline to shoot…
I’m Marcin Kin from Poland. Kościelisko is my hometown. It’s a small village in the Tatra Mountains.
As I can remember, everything I do has something to do with the mountains. That’s why I became a photographer. I just want to travel and see other mountains in the world. But fortunately photography gives me the opportunity to visit beautiful deserts, breathtaking cities, get to know other cultures, and meet fantastic people. That’s why I think it’s the best job in the world.
I like to shoot athletes outdoors in nature. It doesn’t matter to me which sport discipline it is.
Q: How did you get into photography? Did you always have a passion for it growing up or is it something you discovered at an older age?
When I was young I used to think that I would become a pro snowboarder :) But soon enough I realized that there are a lot of people more talented than I am to master this discipline. However, my passion for this sport and snowboarding culture, I started with snowboarding photography of my friends snowboarders and skiers. This is how I started. I can't even recall when I switched to professional photography.
Q: What is your advice to someone just starting out in photography?
Practice, practice and practice. Do everything that is of interest to you. After a while, you will discover the type of photography you’re good at. Also, you will discover that you’ve already gathered so many epic shots that will help you create your own portfolio and offer to potential clients and have them see your work.
Q: How do you overcome creative blocks in your work?
There are no creative blocks. YOU CAN DO EVERYTHING and realize a vision you have on your mind into a reality in a shot. When you realize that, You can be and do whatever you want to. Sky's the limit :)
Here's five of Marcin's favorite photographs he's captured during his career.
1. Nasser Al - Attiyah & Matthieu Baumel in Morocco.
This photo was taken before Dakar 2019. It was the official testing in Morocco before the Dakar Rally kicked off later on in January 2019 in Peru. It was the official shoot for all teams to announce their rally drivers and car liveries. I wanted to do something special. I have known the rally legend Nasser Al Attiyah for a long time and he knows how I work on creating action shots.
I like to be extremely close to the action and take the risk when I have a professional driver like Nasser. We found a flat spot in the desert, and I asked Nasser to drift around me. It was so cool when he was making loops all the time keeping the same distance till the moment we both couldn't see anything :)
2. Skiing expedition in Manaslu, Nepal
I'm an extreme adventurer myself. I’ve done many expeditions in the Himalayas and Karakoram. I love mountains as I grew up in a mountain village in Poland. This picture was taken in Manaslu on the top of camp 1, at a height of almost 6,000 m. It always reminds me of the best times we spend in the mountains, when you wake up in the tent and open it to have an unmatched view like this. You can experience pure freedom at moments like this.
3. Kuba Przygoński and Wojtek Pawlusiak
This one is an action killer photo :) So many things are happening in one shot. This was taken in Abu Dhabi with professional rally Driver Kuba Przygonski and professional snowboarder Wojtek Pawlusiak. The challenge here was to synchronize these two guys of totally different sport disciplines in one shot on the sand dunes. We did a lot of attempts to get this perfect shot, each time taking lots of risks. But as You can see it was totally worth it.
4. Skiing in Kyrgyzstan
One of my favorite pictures! It’s in Kyrgyzstan on the way to Pik Pabieda. Together with two camera operators we were waiting for our friend who was skiing down this mountain. You can see my legs and my other friend Bartek‘s legs. Here we were hiding from the sun which can be very dangerous at this altitude. We were also very tired after climbing for the whole day to reach this high. But our friend Piotr looks so relaxed, drinking a coffee and enjoying the moment :) With this stunning view behind, he looks like he’s coming from a whole different world.
5. Mutaz Barshim and the Doha Skyline
It’s the 2x High Jump World Champion Mutaz Barshim in his hometown. I love working with Mutaz. He makes everything on set flow so easily and smoothly. This shoot is a part of a project that we are doing for Mutaz with Red Bull Qatar about his training routine.
Mutaz runs in the early morning, so we decided to shoot him with the beautiful view of Doha’s skyline by the corniche. I have been around the world to many places, and I can't remember a place this beautiful to have a run such as this one. With the sea and skyscrapers in the background, you just put any one in the frame and you have a nice shot. But with Mutaz, it was picture perfect!
He reminds me of a tall standing, proud skyscraper, that’s why he looks so natural here and blends in perfectly in this picture :)
Stay tuned for our next feature in this series next week. If you like what you see, follow @kinmarcinphoto and @redbullqatar on Instagram.
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