It may be an old cliche, but, in sports, a picture truly can reveal what words cannot adequately describe.
One Shot is our regular series that showcases some of our sport’s most iconic and memorable single images. Some encapsulate an era, or in the case of this opening edition the closing of one, while others preserve a single moment or even a piece of humour.
Modern darts has had decades of such moments for Lawrence Lustig to choose from and reveal the stories behind them.
The Winter Gardens, that beautiful iconic Victorian building in Blackpool that has hosted such stars as Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, The Beatles and a who’s who of showbiz glitterati but none have owned the famous stage as much as a lad from Stoke named Philip Douglas Taylor.
Phil “The Power” Taylor, the most successful darts player of all time, had announced his decision to retire from the PDC but unlike “Old Blue Eyes” this was a farewell tour where there would be no comebacks and 2017 would be his last appearance in the venue where he had previously won15 world matchplay championships.
My job as a photographer is always to try to capture that moment, that image that’ as the saying goes, is worth “a thousand words”.Sometimes the opportunity happens in front of you, like the winning goal or the punch that wins the title, other times you have to work and plan for that special moment that you know is going to happen and making sure you are in the right place at the right time.
I knew this time that the photo needed these key components, Phil, The Stage, and The Winter Gardens, to tell the story of this remarkable “love affair” that was coming to a close, for weeks it had been going through my mind, years of covering this tournament, years of photographing Phil, I knew what I wanted, I knew what the ingredients were but how to get it.
Phil standing on the Oche in the Winter Gardens was a photo I had taken a thousand times, this was not what was required, I wanted that special moment, in a special player’s special career. I decided the walk-on would offer the best chance of achieving my goal.
I had always noticed that when the strobes went off to his music “The Power” by Snap! the whole venue would light up for a fraction of a second, just like in a real lightning storm. Now it was to find the right angle for the shot. A couple of attempts in rounds 1 and 2 did not produce what I wanted, thankfully the maestro was still in and a quarter-final clash with Michael Van Gerwen beckoned and I realised where the perfect position was to get the frame that frankly had become an obsession.
I wedged myself between the stage and the steps with my chin rubbing the carpet as at 8.57 on July 28th, 2017 Phil Taylor strode toward the Oche with the strobes going off surrounding his body and illuminating the whole of the ornate historic building,I had cracked it, but so had Phil as he beat Michael and went on to win his 16th World Matchplay Title.
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For the technically minded, I used a Canon 1DXMk11, iso 3200 at 500th of a second with a 15mm fisheye lens at f3.2.
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Your guide, Lawrence Lustig, has a deep and abiding affection for our sport and is responsible for many defining images during his decades as the PDC’s official photographer.
First published in Darts World 580 and Darts World Extra 4 in 2022
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