Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 17, 2012
The Itinerant Lens: MMA Photographer Keith Mills.
By Jim Genia
February 16th, 2012
This isn’t a story about fighter pay. This isn’t a story about the financial inequities – perceived or actual – in the business of sanctioned fighting. This isn’t about how someone should be compensated for their services, or about how life can be unkind to those who are diligent and hardworking. This is a story about Keith Mills, who, at 43-years old, has been covering the sport of mixed martial arts since before it was even called that, since before there was “The Ultimate Fighter” and live events aired on FOX, since before the bald guy in Las Vegas began issuing forth profanity-laced tirades and made what was once spectacle into a billion-dollar industry. For over eleven years, Keith has been aiming his lens and capturing shots of mixed martial arts competitors in action. His work appears regularly in everything from mainstream outlets ESPN and Sports Illustrated to top MMA news websites Sherdog.com and MMAWeekly.com to the United Kingdom magazine Fighters Only and the Japanese magazine Gong. He’s been flown out to shoot fights in such locales as Costa Rica, Hawaii and Russia. And for the last two and a half years, Keith has been homeless.
When you look at him it makes sense, the Devil, as they say, residing right there in the details. There’s his Abraham Lincoln-esque beard and missing front teeth, his tattered, patchwork denim jacket and the Full Contact Fighter magazine logo tattooed on his upper arm, all contributing to an appearance akin to some Amish/outlaw biker hybrid sans menace, his friendly demeanor the only indication that he won’t hit you with a tire iron when your back is turned. He’s the Octagon Generation’s version of Vietnam War photojournalist Sean Flynn, a figure of stylized eccentricity, shooting pics of combat not from the berm of a rice paddy but from the edge of a cage.
READ MORE: MMA-EXTREME.com - Random MMA stuff. » The Itinerant Lens
February 16th, 2012
This isn’t a story about fighter pay. This isn’t a story about the financial inequities – perceived or actual – in the business of sanctioned fighting. This isn’t about how someone should be compensated for their services, or about how life can be unkind to those who are diligent and hardworking. This is a story about Keith Mills, who, at 43-years old, has been covering the sport of mixed martial arts since before it was even called that, since before there was “The Ultimate Fighter” and live events aired on FOX, since before the bald guy in Las Vegas began issuing forth profanity-laced tirades and made what was once spectacle into a billion-dollar industry. For over eleven years, Keith has been aiming his lens and capturing shots of mixed martial arts competitors in action. His work appears regularly in everything from mainstream outlets ESPN and Sports Illustrated to top MMA news websites Sherdog.com and MMAWeekly.com to the United Kingdom magazine Fighters Only and the Japanese magazine Gong. He’s been flown out to shoot fights in such locales as Costa Rica, Hawaii and Russia. And for the last two and a half years, Keith has been homeless.
When you look at him it makes sense, the Devil, as they say, residing right there in the details. There’s his Abraham Lincoln-esque beard and missing front teeth, his tattered, patchwork denim jacket and the Full Contact Fighter magazine logo tattooed on his upper arm, all contributing to an appearance akin to some Amish/outlaw biker hybrid sans menace, his friendly demeanor the only indication that he won’t hit you with a tire iron when your back is turned. He’s the Octagon Generation’s version of Vietnam War photojournalist Sean Flynn, a figure of stylized eccentricity, shooting pics of combat not from the berm of a rice paddy but from the edge of a cage.
READ MORE: MMA-EXTREME.com - Random MMA stuff. » The Itinerant Lens
Monday, February 13, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Thursday, February 2, 2012
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