Image Perfect: Behind the Scenes of Laver Cup’s Iconic Photo Shoot

The Golden Gate Bridge had disappeared.

On the Wednesday night of Laver Cup 2025, the placement chosen for one of many occasion’s most anticipated traditions was hidden beneath a blanket of San Francisco fog. As the images and media groups watched the climate apps replace, the window for the enduring crew photograph gave the impression to be closing.

A backup location was mentioned. Instead, Laver Cup trusted the unique imaginative and prescient. The choice produced some of the hanging photographs of Laver Cup’s nine-year historical past.

Since its debut on the inaugural Laver Cup in Prague in 2017, the crew photograph has turn out to be one of many defining photographs of the occasion.

Clive Brunskill, sports activities photographer at Getty Images, has orchestrated each version of the crew photograph. “It is far from basic,” he says. From organizing a dozen celebrity gamers in exacting positions to lining up lighting—solar and synthetic—to managing the timing and placement, taking the enduring photograph is a course of months within the making.

Behind the Shot

Emily Wright, head of public relations and media at Laver Cup, says the photograph has so many extra layers than putting athletes in entrance of a well-known landmark. “The location has to tell the story of the host city, but it ultimately has to work from a photograph and operational perspective,” she says. “Every detail from the backdrop to security to transportation of the players to what the photographer feels comes into play to create an image that is timeless. We want it to stand the test of time.”

Originally, the photograph was supposed to create a memorable picture of rivals changing into teammates. Now it has turn out to be a part of the occasion itself, and every participant receives a limited-edition print signed by all.

“The key is finding somewhere that says the city and is safe, and we can efficiently bring the players in and out,” Wright says. Everyone desires the identical end result. For Brunskill, he’s figuring out lighting angles, a clear backdrop and how you can house the gamers; Wright spends time on constructing an arrival window the place gamers have a seamless and pleasant expertise.

“People don’t understand the complexity,” she says. “The 20-minute shoot is one of the more precisely choreographed moments of players, captains, security and media. It is challenging and really rewarding.”

Wright and Brunskill had been unanimous in selecting Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate as the head when it comes to every thing coming collectively for the “beauty shot” in 2024. San Francisco was a detailed second.

Prague 2017 – The Beginning

For the primary iteration, the gamers lined up on a slim cobblestone walkway outdoors a lodge alongside the Vltava River. The web site was difficult as a result of tight confines, however when the gamers began strolling towards him, Brunskill remembers pondering: “Oh my God, I have every good player in men’s tennis here. The enormity struck me. I can’t mess this up.” To today, Prague is Brunskill’s third favourite photograph just because it was the primary.

London 2022 – The Perfect Set Up

Players arrived through boat to keep away from site visitors at a non-public location with the bridge within the background. “There was a real buzz on Tower Bridge,” says Wright. “It was as close as you can get to the perfect shoot.” But it wasn’t as simple for Brunskill, with Rafael Nadal arriving the next day as a result of delivery of his little one. Brunskill shot Nadal the next day, and he was photoshopped into the unique, however there was further work wanted to retouch the fits so the colours matched precisely.

Berlin 2024 – The Masterpiece

Such a well known landmark in Berlin provided an apparent location. Plus, it was near the participant lodge. The large problem was the positioning serving as such a preferred vacationer attraction. Laver Cup labored with town and police to safe the required permits, however there was no method to clear the realm. Earlier that day, the placement was stuffed with protestors, avenue artists, and vacationers.  Wright says the general public was respectful and cleared out for 5 minutes to permit the image. “Everything fell into place in the end, but not without a few grey hairs along the way,” Wright says. The solar was additionally excellent, because it dropped beneath the gate. “Pop, pop, pop, I fired it off,” Brunskill says. “For me, that was the best one. That was mega. I remember Roger [Federer] saying, ‘I never thought you’d get that shot.’ It was brilliant.”

San Francisco 2025 – The Gamble

When Brunskill scouted the Golden Gate Bridge, the wind was whipping. He was apprehensive about ties and hair flying about. The subsequent night time the bridge was shrouded in fog. The night time earlier than the image, the bridge was clear, so Brunskill shot it within the night solar, simply as a backup, pondering worst-case state of affairs he might use the Tuesday images of the and overlay the Wednesday image of the gamers if the bridge fogged in. It can be numerous work, however it might occur. Then on the day of the shoot, with a plan B location in place, the bridge was fully fogged in. “I said, ‘let’s go for it,’” he says. “It was brilliant. The sun was out, and it was lovely late-evening light, just really beautiful.”

A Parade of Superstars

The iconic photograph isn’t as simple as having gamers stand in a line. Brunskill positions them to make sure the hand placements are the identical, the fits are sorted, the angles are correct, and they’re all wanting on the digicam. Then there’s the order. He usually types a V with the gamers to scale back the width of the house wanted and contours them up by peak.

It takes cooperation from everybody concerned. Brunskill recollects a previous photograph during which a Team World participant was hamming it up, slowing the method. The photographer advised him he was holding up Federer, Nadal, and Novak Djokovic. That was sufficient to maintain the crew in line, exhibiting that generally a little bit of directing is a part of the method.

“There is a lot more that goes into this shoot than meets the eye,” Wright says. “We think it is great because it captures a moment in time that someday we will look back on and be super proud to remember exactly which edition it was.”

What makes the proper shot? “Every eye opened. Sharp. Correctly exposed. Does the sky look good? Is it interesting? You don’t want it just white, but want texture and a bit of orange,” Brunskill says. “The easiest bit is clicking the shutter once it is all sorted. The difficult bit is getting it sorted.”