By Nick Totten
From Valhalla Golf Club
Celebrated snapper David Cannon celebrates his 100th Major this week as he once again brings his distinctive take on the still image to the US PGA Championship at Vahalla Golf Club.
The man from Sussex, just south of London, is renowned throughout the world of golf for having taken some of the game’s most iconic photos, and while there are photographers and journalists who have attended more of the sport’s big four than he has, it seemed a fitting milestone with which to pay tribute to David’s canon of work.
At a specially staged press conference the PGA of America welcomed Cannon, and distinguished golf writer Bill Fields, to speak about their professional life so far, and the pair of them had some interesting tales to tell about how the game, and their craft, have changed over the years.
For the photographer extraordinaire it has been a great career so far, and one he is thankful for, so it is pleasing to hear that there is no sign of the Englishman permanently putting the lens cap back on anytime soon, as he strives to capture more of the game’s great images going forward.
“For me, it's been an incredible journey,” said Cannon. “I've got two passions in life: I love golf and I love photography, so I don't think I could have been luckier to have been doing what I'm doing.
“It's great to be here, because I think without a doubt the PGA of America and the PGA Championship is the friendly Major as far as I'm concerned. It's great that I'm here this week, and I still can't believe I've made 100. I'm going to gun for 150, as you never know, I could still be trolling up and down those hills by then.
“It's been an amazing journey and I love the fact that, in a funny sort of way, I think still photography creates history. It's a very important part of the history of the game, and if I've made a contribution to that, I'm thrilled to have done it.
“I've worked with an amazing team at Getty Images, and it was where I started on my own at these big events. Now I'm part of a big team, and honestly, I couldn't work amongst a better set of people. It's been just a fantastic journey, and I've got many, many highlights.”
Journalism has changed a lot in the time that Cannon has been covering golf, having started with colour film, before having to transition to the digital space. That was something that he was perhaps reluctant to do at first, but the immediacy of the industry now, and the quality of the equipment he has at his disposal, has helped take his work to a whole new level.
“I remember early Majors we would shoot ten rolls of film in a day, put them in a bag at our locker, and at the end of the week you would fly home to London with 60 to process on a Tuesday morning. Now if the pictures aren't out within five minutes of something happening, people are asking questions. It's a very different world.
“I was a bit slow to change because obviously I was born and bred on high quality, colour film, but really change happened for a couple of reasons. One is that Canon came out with a really, really good digital camera in 2002, at that was the point the whole company changed to digital, so I kind of had to change.
“I can honestly say now that the camera has gone beyond, and I can't describe how incredible they are. The quality is just off the planet.”
For a man that has seen, and shot, so many iconic scenes on golf courses across the globe, you might think it would be hard for him to pick out a favourite moment or two from a career that has spanned so long.
When quizzed on that though, Cannon was instant – and adamant – in his response.
“I'm very biased,” said the celebrated photographer. “I've got two and they both involve the same person who is sadly not with us now, and that's Seve Ballesteros. Every time I talk about it I dissolve, basically, because he was to me my unbelievable subject.
“Holing the final putt at St. Andrews in '84, and then I got a really nice shot of him in full swing in the '88 Open Championship at Lytham. Those two, they’re my best memories.
Even back then he knew what he had on his hands, with Cannon so excited by what he had captured, that he rushed home to make sure it was as good as he had hoped.
As it turned out, he needn’t have worried.
He said: “That Seve Ballesteros sequence, I was so excited by it, but it happened at seven o'clock in the evening, and then we had to drive home. I actually drove overnight because I was so excited to get back to London, which was a seven hour trip.
“I was outside our office for the lab at eight on Monday morning, and I couldn't put the whole roll of film in. I had to clip test the first few frames to check that I had got the exposure right, as I was so concerned. Thankfully I had got it right, but it was just one of those moments.
“Now you can look at it two seconds after you have taken a picture and you can see whether you've got it. It is just so different.”
Saturday at the PGA Championship was a celebration of one of the great contributors to the game, and while 100 Majors is a fitting milestone and one worth highlighting, there is surely plenty more to come from a man who has such a love of the game.
So for the rest of this week, this season, and for years to come, be on the lookout for a ‘Cannon’ as he continues to capture those treasured moments within the game.
