Proposal

AD6800 Major Project Proposal

I have now had two great years working with the All Golds rugby league team, and while

there are many staff members and players that have come and gone during my time I feel

like I have developed not only a relaxed working relationship with those that are still around

but a personal one too. During the 2015 season I had become somewhat friends the three

Australian imports that joined the club. Ryan, Mark & Toby were very relaxed and in typical

Aussie fashion had an open and approachable demeanor when working on a match day and

I regret not shooting them more away from the obligatory match days as they appeared to

enjoy interesting lifestyles away from their native land, particularly Toby who enjoyed the

various skate parks located around Cheltenham.

I am proposing that for my major project that I document the current Australian Imports that

the All Golds have brought in for the 2016 season. The names of this year’s players are Josh

Allison, Jayson Lombardo & Brendon Newton. I intend to document the committed lifestyles

that these guys lead, from hard work being in at training, appearances at events hosted by

the club, the preparations & performances that are put in on a matchday and what is done

during the free time away from the pitch. There is potential for an interesting story to be seen

as these players settle into a new life on the other side of the world to play the sport that they

love.

From my previous work with the All Golds I believe that gaining the access required will not

be an issue, as I have a developed some great friendships within the club, notably with club

president Lionel Hurst, and Journalist Patrick Baines who can assist with the production of

this project. It will be up to me to meet & develop my own relationships with the individual

players so we can start shooting. I Intend to photograph this project at the player's’ home in

Cheltenham, at the clubs gym & training facilities at Oxstalls in Gloucester, and at match

venues such as the Prince of Wales stadium in Cheltenham.

I have also briefly considered how the final images will be displayed, and I would like to

utilise the 1908 Suite space upstairs at the Prince of Wales stadium, where the All Golds

play their home matches, possibly in connection with a match in May during the 2016

season. After enjoying the sight of my work being exhibited during the recent Landscape

module, I’d love for this work to be seen by a large and relevant audience as possible.

Another less profile option is for this to be placed inside the All Golds eProgramme

for a

match in May, I have been working closely with the publication’s graphic designer Craig

Mitchell during my time with the club also so arranging this shouldn’t be too difficult. I will

look into the feasibility and logistical aspects of both of these options when more work has

been shot.

This project is important to me as I want to be able to share stories of the sports industry

through my photography, and I think that this major documentary project provides a great

opportunity to show how a small local club interacts on an international level to attract

players to this country for the sport that they love. For others i think that the project will be

engaging as it will provide an insight to a possibly unfamiliar way of life for these people

living on the other side of the world for their home. I have already begun shooting the players

at some level at training sessions & on matchdays etc, establishing a catalogue of images

since the beginning of the year, however after the Easter break I intend to start interviewing

the players about the whole process of moving to Britain, and begin documenting the more

personal aspects of this project at the player's’ home etc.

http://allgoldsrugby.com/all-golds-sign-australian-trio/