For the OC Annual story "Little Leagues," Poppy de Villeneuve photographed dedicated young athletes doing motocross, high diving, judo, and lacrosse, while Nathaniel Kilcer interviewed the pint-sized champions on their top game, their heroes, and more. The result is an astonishing portrait (with video and audio clips exclusive to the OC Annual iPad app) of crystal clear focus, perseverance, and athletic prowess. Below, Nathaniel and Poppy let us in on their conversation about the shoot. Plus, we've thrown in a couple of videos and soundbites from our app for you to get a taste, but be sure to download it (for free!) for even more goodies.
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Nathaniel Kilcer: Let’s talk about what drew us to this story about young athletes.
Poppy de Villeneuve: I think we were both drawn to this project because there is a certain innocence to children and their involvement in sports. They have excitement and ambition for sports from a very young age. We chose motocross, high diving, lacrosse, and judo to show different points of view.
NK: None of these are traditional team sports. For me, each shoot was a place of discovery. I wasn't too familiar with any of the sports that we shot, so it was the kids who were inviting us into their world and teaching us about it. Each sport seemed to have its own language––judo especially, because of its origins. I like that a kid can feel like an expert in something.
PdeV: It's true; they presented something to us. We wanted to be on equal footing with them. It wasn't a scenario of children and grown ups. Rather, we wanted them to show us their world without us being directly present in it.
NK: As a photographer, what interesting challenges did you face with the different sports and kids in front of the camera?
PdeV: We purposely chose really visual sports. For me, high diving and motocross were the easiest to capture, because you don't need to know the rules to understand them. In high diving, you see a kid jump off a board and make shapes. In motocross, you see a boy on a bike doing jumps and making forms. It was difficult to capture that sense of form while shooting lacrosse. I would say high diving had the most sense of grace. Seeing the children modeling their dives before they jumped was one of the most special moments for me. It was really powerful seeing this little person bend into a shape and then stand upright. I admired the fearlessness. I remember skiing as a child and going down black diamond runs without even thinking about it. As an adult, that shifts with your growing sense of responsibilities. The children's sense of freedom was really inspiring.
NK: There’s a direct connection between fearlessness and innocence. When you asked the diving kids how they did their dives, they explained it in a very ordinary way, like they were explaining what they did on the weekend. It’s interesting, that idea that we become more cautious as we become less innocent.
PdeV: What did you think about the sense of community we discovered around these sports, and the relationship between the children and their parents?
NK: I felt that connection strongest with the motocross families, particularly from the parents. Steven Saquicela [featured in the story] talked about how his father and grandfather got him into th
______________________________________________________
Nathaniel Kilcer: Let’s talk about what drew us to this story about young athletes.
Poppy de Villeneuve: I think we were both drawn to this project because there is a certain innocence to children and their involvement in sports. They have excitement and ambition for sports from a very young age. We chose motocross, high diving, lacrosse, and judo to show different points of view.
NK: None of these are traditional team sports. For me, each shoot was a place of discovery. I wasn't too familiar with any of the sports that we shot, so it was the kids who were inviting us into their world and teaching us about it. Each sport seemed to have its own language––judo especially, because of its origins. I like that a kid can feel like an expert in something.
PdeV: It's true; they presented something to us. We wanted to be on equal footing with them. It wasn't a scenario of children and grown ups. Rather, we wanted them to show us their world without us being directly present in it.
NK: As a photographer, what interesting challenges did you face with the different sports and kids in front of the camera?
PdeV: We purposely chose really visual sports. For me, high diving and motocross were the easiest to capture, because you don't need to know the rules to understand them. In high diving, you see a kid jump off a board and make shapes. In motocross, you see a boy on a bike doing jumps and making forms. It was difficult to capture that sense of form while shooting lacrosse. I would say high diving had the most sense of grace. Seeing the children modeling their dives before they jumped was one of the most special moments for me. It was really powerful seeing this little person bend into a shape and then stand upright. I admired the fearlessness. I remember skiing as a child and going down black diamond runs without even thinking about it. As an adult, that shifts with your growing sense of responsibilities. The children's sense of freedom was really inspiring.
NK: There’s a direct connection between fearlessness and innocence. When you asked the diving kids how they did their dives, they explained it in a very ordinary way, like they were explaining what they did on the weekend. It’s interesting, that idea that we become more cautious as we become less innocent.
PdeV: What did you think about the sense of community we discovered around these sports, and the relationship between the children and their parents?
NK: I felt that connection strongest with the motocross families, particularly from the parents. Steven Saquicela [featured in the story] talked about how his father and grandfather got him into th