LEON & FABIAN EDWARDS — FIND YOUR RHYTHM
Leon Edwards former UFC Welterweight champion of the world photographed for Montirex by Daniel Allison Photographer
More than ten years ago I was cage side at UFC Fight Night 39 in Abu Dhabi, photographing combat sport as it happened. At the time, I was there to photograph the sport itself.
More than a decade later, I'm photographing one of its former world champions for a global sportswear campaign, commissioned by Leeds-based creative powerhouse SYN Creative Agency.
This time in Birmingham, England….for sure an unexpected full-circle moment in my career.
Leon and Fabian Edwards meeting up to train in a park in birmingham. Shot for Montirex by Daniel Allison Photographer
ONE CAMPAIGN. TWO CITIES. THREE ELITE FIGHTERS.
This is day two of Montirex's Find Your Rhythm campaign.
The previous day was Sheffield with WBC world champion boxer Dalton Smith. Twenty-four hours later, we're in Birmingham with brothers Leon and Fabian Edwards — two elite mixed martial artists competing at the highest level.
New city. New locations. Different athletes. Different sport. Different lighting conditions but the photography still needs to belong to the same campaign.
Leon Edwards former UFC Welterweight champion of the world warming up, photographed for Montirex by Daniel Allison Photographer
SAME CAMPAIGN. DIFFERENT RHYTHM.
A multi-day campaign isn't about repeating the same photographs with different people because every athlete moves differently. They have different personalities, different environments and different ways of training.
The challenge is adapting to all of that without losing the visual language we've established for Montirex.
My approach as a UK commercial sportswear photographer is built around movement, instinct and real environments. This campaign brings all three of those essential ingredients together.
Consistency doesn't mean repetition.
FIND YOUR RHYTHM
With fighters, natural rhythm already exists. Movement. Timing. Repetition. Footwork. Breathing. Recovery. Explosiveness. Concentration.
I don't need to micromanage and manufacture those moments, I've simply learnt to anticipate them.
I let the athletes find their rhythm and freeze it in time.
BIRMINGHAM
We start in a Birmingham park where Leon and Fabian meet up, warm up and begin striking and pad work underneath a bandstand.
The camera comes out and I lock in, focusing on what happens in front of me.
No elaborate setup. No pretending. Minimal direction. I'm moving around them, getting extremely close, watching their movement and responding to the training rather than stopping it for the photograph.
From there, we move from the public space of the park into the dark and gritty Renegade MMA HQ — the gym where the Edwards brothers train and prepare for their biggest fights.
Two completely different environments, but the same photographic language running through both.
CLOSE. PHYSICAL. IMMEDIATE.
My approach remains consistent with the previous day's photography in Sheffield.
Close. Physical. Immediate.
Front flash mixed with available light.
Movement and texture.
Real environments.
But I'm not trying to recreate the Dalton Smith photographs as Leon and Fabian move differently. MMA moves differently.
The environment is different, So I adapt to what's happening in front of me while keeping the photography connected to the wider campaign.
FROM SPORT TO COMMERCIAL CAMPAIGN
My experience photographing real sport has had a huge influence on how I approach commercial athlete photography and sportswear advertising campaigns.
Movement can be unpredictable, and understanding when to get close and learning to read what's about to happen is imperative. That unpredictable movement is what makes these kind of shoots work so well.
I want to anticipate rather than react so I work fast, keep moving with the athlete and stay close to the action. Sometimes very close.
I want the viewer to feel like they're there with them — moving with the athlete, almost breathing and sweating with them — rather than observing everything safely from the other side of the room.
That shit would be boring. We need to feel connected to the action.
There are also moments when the best thing I can do is stay out of the way. That's something photographing real sport teaches you. When to move in and when to pull back. When to press the shutter.
And when to leave something alone.
I bring that experience into a commercial brief without removing the reality that made the sport interesting in the first place.
ONE VISUAL LANGUAGE
Across two days, Montirex's Find Your Rhythm campaign moved between different cities, sports, athletes and environments.
Sheffield. Birmingham. Boxing. MMA. Dalton Smith. Leon Edwards. Fabian Edwards. Gym floors, stadiums, city parks and training spaces.
The job isn't to force every athlete into the same predetermined photographs. It's to find what's authentic about each person and make those individual moments belong to the same visual world.
Different city, discipline, athlete and rhythm.
Same visual language.
For me, that's one of the most important parts of photographing a campaign.
View the Montirex Find Your Rhythm campaign photography here:
COMMERCIAL SPORTSWEAR & CAMPAIGN PHOTOGRAPHY
Daniel Allison is a UK commercial fashion, sportswear and lifestyle photographer working across Manchester, London and nationwide. Creating authentic advertising imagery for brands, agencies and creative directors.
