ALL IMAGES GETTY IMAGES
DAVID CANNON AND ST ANDREWS ARE SYNONYMOUS WITH ONE ANOTHER. WITHOUT ST ANDREWS IT IS ENTIRELY POSSIBLE DAVID'S CAREER TRAJECTORY COULD HAVE CHANGED, AND PERHAPS WITHOUT DAVID ARGUABLY THE MOST ICONIC MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF GOLF IN THIS TOWN WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN CAPTURED WITH THE SAME PRECISION OR MEANING.
OF COURSE THERE WERE MANY OTHER PHOTOGRAPHERS THERE ON THAT JULY AFTERNOON IN 1984, BUT IT IS DAVID'S SHOT OF SEVE WHICH HAS BECOME A LEGEND IN ITSELF, PROVIDING A BRAND IDENTITY FOR SEVE AND THE SEVE BALLESTEROS FOUNDATION. NEXT YEAR MARKS 50 YEARS SINCE HIS FIRST VISIT TO ST ANDREWS AND 2024 WILL BE UNBELIEVABLY THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF THAT 1984 OPEN. HERE, IN PART THREE OF MY INTERVIEW WITH DAVID, THE GETTY IMAGES PHOTOGRAPHER TALKS ABOUT ST ANDREWS.
When did you first visit St Andrews and when did you first play the Old Course?
"I first played the Old Course with my father in 1973, we got lucky and filled a spot where two out of four players had not shown up. The next time was in the Amateur Championship in 1976."
What were your initial thoughts on the course, and did it live up to expectations?
"I first played the Old Course with my father in 1973, we got lucky and filled a spot where two out of four players had not shown up. The next time was in the Amateur Championship in 1976."
What were your initial thoughts on the course, and did it live up to expectations?
"I loved it from the word go. There are no words to describe the feeling on the first tee in front of the R&A clubhouse. I was a good player who favoured the left side of a course and I putted well so I t suited me very nicely!"
Had you photographed the Old Course prior to the 1984 Open?
Had you photographed the Old Course prior to the 1984 Open?
"I visited St Andrews in 1983 and toOk some very amateurish course pictures at the wrong time of day, as well as some pictures around the town."
What are the biggest challenges of photographing the Old Course?
What are the biggest challenges of photographing the Old Course?
"For general views it is the flatness of the course. I have learnt the hard way and recently I think I have taken some truly beautiful images of the Old Course. Over the years I have learnt that it is really only in the first hour and last hour of the day that course comes to life for photography. This is when the undulations that are such a feature of the course show up on the camera as the shadows begin to show their true colours.
When the Open Championship is held on the Old Course this brings its own challenges. The double greens and double fairways make it really difficult to follow the action as it can be a very long way from where you are shooting. Tongue in cheek I often say to friends that for The Open at St Andrews you may as well just stay on the first, 17th and 18th holes because that is where all the pictures used come from. This can be so true, but I love the stretch around the turn especially the combination of the seventh and 11Th greens. The par three 11th hole is one of the great places to watch."
Should The Open be played on the Old Course every year, as some say, or do other courses provide more magic moments, and are other courses more photogenic?
Should The Open be played on the Old Course every year, as some say, or do other courses provide more magic moments, and are other courses more photogenic?
"I don’t agree with The Open being held at St Andrews each year. This would spoil the championship. We have nine other incredible venues that all provide great opportunities for pictures. Most of all it all depends on the moments that each championship gives us. Certainly, other courses are much more photogenic, Turnberry being the best followed closely by Royal Portrush.
Every venue has its own scenic quality and own individual character. That is the beauty of links golf each course looks so different. The variety of challenges is so much part of The Open Championship. We are so lucky to have such brilliantly different host clubs."
Which is your favourite hole to photograph and why?
"The 17th hole is where I have a lot of fun each year. You have so many options on this hole from the tee shot over the railway sheds beside The Old Course Hotel, to the road hole bunker and the road itself. As a bonus from behind the green you can take the iconic images of a player teeing off on the 18th hole with the view over the Swilcan Bridge looking up the closing hole to the R&A clubhouse. But as I mentioned before I love the 11th hole as it is such a treacherous par three in every sense."
OF COURSE, THE SINGLE SHOT WHICH DAVID HAS TAKEN OVER HIS 40-YEAR CAREER WHICH IS KNOWN AROUND THE WORLD IS THE ONE OF SEVE CELEBRATING HIS BIRDIE AT THE 72ND HOLE, ON THE 18TH GREEN OF THE OLD COURSE, DURING THE 1984 OPEN. THE PHOTOGRAPH CAPTURES THE JOY, THE EMOTION, THE PASSION AND IT SHOWS OFF THE PERSONALITY OF THIS MERCURIAL SPANIARD IN A WAY WHICH ALMOST NO OTHER IMAGE DOES.
Explain your relationship with Seve, and how did you come to be in position to take that iconic photograph of him at the 1984 Open?
"I first met Seve in May 1976 when I was lucky enough to be drawn with him in a pro-am at my home course The Leicestershire Golf Club. It was an amazing experience I had never seen a golf ball hit like he hit a ball. I actually putted really well, and this infuriated him! It was a day I will never forget. Two months later he nearly won The Open at Royal Birkdale. How I wish I had owned a camera that day, and little was I to know that eight years later I would capture the iconic moment of his career. That day sowed the seeds of love for a man who was to become my all-time sporting hero.
On that Sunday afternoon in July 1984 as Seve teed off on his final hole I waited for a picture of him and Bernhard Langer as they crossed the Swilcan Bridge, and then rushed up the right-hand side of the fairway to the green. Something inside me told me I should get to the back of the green early. That year we were still allowed to work from the grassy bank immediately behind the green.
The moment his ball landed on the green and came to rest fifteen or so feet below the hole I felt I had made the right decision. By chance the position was absolutely perfect for the lens I loved using, the original manual focus Canon 400mm f2.8. Focus was so critical with that lens one literally had a six-inch depth of focus from thirty yards away, so there was no room for error. My motor-drive on my Canon F1N camera gave me a five-frame per-second capability so a roll of film with maximum thirty-six frames would give me seven seconds at best of film before I had to re-load.
I have never been so pleased that I had a fresh roll of film in my camera. The background was so lovely and as Seve settled over the ball. With the film loaded I checked the light for the last time, exposure was so critical with slide film.
I took a deep breath, and concentrated on getting the focus spot on as he drew his Ping Anser putter back, from the split second that that ball was on its way the noise instantly grew to a crescendo as the ball hovered on the edge of the hole and finally dropped in to cue the most memorable celebration I will ever photograph. The sheer triumph and release of joy from Seve produced what is my most memorable winning moment of my career. I can still feel the goose-bumps.
I recall that feeling as I carefully took that precious film out of the camera, marked it, and put it safely into a zipped pocket in my camera vest. I would not see the slides until almost a day later!
From sunrise to sunset, what is a typical day working at an Open or a Dunhill at St Andrews like for David Cannon?
"The first two days of an Open Championship have to be the most arduous days of the Major Championship rota. They are certainly the longest. I normally arrive at the media centre some time before 6.00am to get breakfast before I set off for the first tee shot which is always a picture I like to have.
Those days never seem to end. The last group finally putts out on the 18 th green some time just after 9pm. A fifteen-hour marathon of a day! Thursday at the Open Championship can actually be even longer for me as I often make the effort to be on the course as the greenkeepers set out at 4am to prepare the course. These people are so important to the success of the championship every year and I think it is really important to record how hard they work.
It is very different at The Dunhill. Play does not start until 9.00am and very fortunately as I work for Alfred Dunhill I get a lovely hotel room where I can literally be at the course in a five-minute walk. I love the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship for a number of reasons. It is so different to The Open Championship.
Played in early October the light is much more friendly for a photographer. The sun never really gets too high in the sky and the Autumn skies are so different to summer, so often we get much more interesting light to work with. The pro-am format of the Dunhill Links Championship makes it a much more relaxed event.
The Restrictions on where we work from gives me a much greater option to be creative. There are numerous sporting icons and celebrities to get my teeth into so this makes a very enjoyable week and one that I look forward to immensely each year!"
THERE WAS TALK OF DAVID RETIRING WHILST I WAS AT A FEW EVENTS IN 2021, AND IF AND WHEN HE DOES DECIDE TO HANG THE CAMERA UP IT WILL BE A GREAT LOSS. IT WILL BE A GREAT LOSS TO GOLF, BECAUSE HE HAS CAPTURED VIRTUALLY EVERY GREAT MOMENT IN THE SPORT OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS, AND ADDED TO THE RICH PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THIS INCREDIBLE GAME. IT WILL BE A GREAT LOSS TO PHOTOGRAPHY, BECAUSE, AS YOU WILL SEE IN PART 4 OF OUR INTERVIEW, HE HAS PHOTOGRAPHED MANY DIFFERENT SPORTS AND CAPTURED SEVERAL ICONIC MOMENTS ACROSS THE SPORTS WORLD. BUT EQUAL TO BOTH THESE, IT WILL BE A GREAT LOSS TO ST ANDREWS. DAVID HAS BEEN THERE FOR EACH OF THE LAST 8 OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPS ON THE OLD COURSE, AND EVERY SINGLE ALFRED DUNHILL CUP OR ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP. HE HAS CAPTURED THE COURSE IN ITS GREATEST LIGHT AT SUNRISE AND SUNSET, AND HE HAS CAPTURED THE HISTORIC MOMENTS WHICH ST ANDREWS AND GOLF IN ST ANDREWS IS RENOWNED FOR.
I FIRST PLUCKED UP THE COURAGE TO SPEAK TO DAVID ON THE WAY DOWN THE 18TH FAIRWAY FOR THE TROPHY SHOT ON THE SWILCAN BRIDGE DURING THE 2015 DUNHILL, ASKING HIM "DO YOU DO INTERVIEWS". I THEN SHOT ALONGSIDE HIM AT VARIOUS POINTS DURING THE 2019 SOLHEIM CUP, AND I LIKE TO THINK THAT MY SHOT OF SUZANN PETTERSEN HOLING THE WINNING PUTT AS MY 'DAVID CANNON MOMENT'. THAT MOMENT WHERE A SINGLE SHOT ENCAPSULATES A THOUSAND EMOTIONS AND A MOMENT OF HISTORY. I AM EXTREMELY GRATEFUL THAT DAVID FOUND THE TIME DURING LOCKDOWN IN APRIL 2020 TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS, AND THE NEXT TWO PARTS OF THIS MOST IN-DEPTH OF INTERVIEWS WILL SHOW YOU DAVID CANNON THE PHOTOGRAPHER. I ALSO CONCUR WITH DAVID'S SENTIMENT ON THE ALFRED DUNHILL LINKS CHAMPIONSHIP, IT IS A WEEK that I look forward to immensely each year!
