Emre Oktay

Emre Oktay is one of Turkey's leading sports photographers. He has been covering major sporting events in the country for almost 25 years and has twice won the prestigious Sports Photo of the Year Award, given by the Photojournalists' Association of Turkey, in 2013 and 2018.

Born in Istanbul, Emre turned to photography during his senior year in high school, initially as a way of documenting his daily life. "I loved my school and borrowed my uncle's camera to photograph local streets and buildings on the route I walked every day, because I wanted to remember them," he recalls. "That's how I took up photography."

"I was always interested in sport, especially football, and I was a fan of Beşiktaş football club," he says. "But the main motivation for doing the job was the photography. I found I really enjoyed doing it. I got to travel and to see sports at eye level, which not many people do, so I decided to stay on." He has remained working for the same newspaper ever since.

In the past quarter-century, Emre has covered a range of sports at the highest level, including athletics, Formula 1 and basketball. However, his day-to-day work is shooting football, which is the most popular sport played and watched in Turkey.

One of the most memorable sporting events he has covered is the 2005 Champions League Final between Liverpool and AC Milan, played in Istanbul. It was an extraordinary match in which Liverpool were 3-0 down at half time, drew level at full time and finally won on penalties. "I photographed the Liverpool players raising the trophy," he says. "That photo is important because it's a historic moment."

For Emre, this is the ideal career as it combines his love of sport with fulfilling his need for self-expression and creativity through photography.

"I feel like I'm at home when I'm shooting sport," he says. "I feel very relaxed and safe at a stadium. I also do other side jobs, aside from sports photography and sometimes they don't give me the satisfaction I need. But when I get back to sport, especially football, I get satisfaction. I like football, I like watching it, I like being there. And I'm also being paid for it. What more can I ask?"

How do you prepare for a sporting event you don't often cover?

"I always search for photographs of the event that have been taken in the past – I look at who has shot what and from where. I find out what I'm going to be facing, if there are restrictions on where I can stand, and decide what lenses I will need. Other than that, I find out the names of the most important players or athletes and look out for them."

What is the most common mistake young sports photographers make, and what should they do to improve their work?

"Nowadays, young sports photographers are often chasing followers and likes, largely influenced by social media. As a result, they tend to focus more on stylised and aesthetic imagery in their work. This isn't inherently bad, in fact, it's a valid part of the job. However, sports photography is also deeply rooted in photojournalism, in capturing iconic moments in history. So my advice to young sports photographers is simple: place far greater focus on capturing the decisive moment."

What makes a great sports photograph?

"A great sports photograph should be a moment of peak action or a player or athlete's telling reaction to something that's happened. Most of the best sports photos are about these things. Or sometimes it can be an everyday, routine moment, but one that's been captured from an original angle."

What piece of Canon kit can you not live without, and why?

"I love the Canon EOS R1 – it's perfect for my work. The autofocus is essential for shooting sport and it's very fast and consistent. It also gives many more shooting opportunities – for example other cameras have a hard time on focusing on a player through the goal net, but this camera solves the problem. The Wi-Fi connection is fast and there's an FTP server image transfer button on top of the camera so I can quickly transmit images. The EOS R1 makes my job easier and so far it is my favourite camera ever."

What else could we discover in your kitbag that helps you elevate your work?

"The most important accessory in my kitbag is the Canon RF Extender 1.4x. I use it with both my Canon RF 400mm F2.8L IS USM and my Canon RF 70-200mm F2.8L IS USM Z lenses. During a football match, for example, when all the action is concentrated in the opposite half of the pitch, the extender gives me the extra reach I need to stay tight on the play. It provides a significantly more compact and lightweight solution without having to compromise."

"If you want to shoot sport for a living you should go to every possible sporting event to develop your skills in capturing the action and finding out what you need and don't need to photograph. Knowing about the sports you shoot is the most important thing, I think, because without that knowledge, you'll always be late, you'll stay behind the action. As a sports photographer, you need to know what's going to happen next, before it happens."

Instagram: @ozanemreoktay