One on One with Olympian Aly Raisman

A few years ago I started a relationship with US Weekly Magazine when they were running a special issue on Justin Bieber. For those of you who don’t know, I spent about 6 months shadowing him for a book project and subsequently as his tour photographer. I was surprised to find out that US Weekly high-quality special issues called “bookazines” about ten times per year that sell for $9.99.

So the magazine needed some pictures and I was a good source. Since then I’ve shot a few more times for the publication documenting the lives of celebrities. Most recently they sent me to Massachusetts to spend a few days with Olympic gymnastic hopeful Aly Raisman. Since my time with her in June, she’s gone on to qualify and is currently competing (and doing quite well) at the Olympic Games in London.

This shoot was a mix of documentary and portraiture as the magazine wanted to show various aspects of Aly’s life. For instance; she’s 18 years old, lives at home with her parents, was just asked to the prom by a friend, and spends obscene amounts of her time practicing her sport at Brestyan’s Gymnastics.

The day started when I arrived to her home and was first greeted by her two overly-excited dogs who put me through my paces until my newness wore off. She has a big family, two sisters, one brother, a neighbor friend who is apparently a fixture at their household. Also a Boston Bruin loving father and a sweet mother who homemade a wonderful buffet of great food and snacks.

After having her hair and makeup done, Aly gave me a tour of her family’s massive home and grounds. We took portraits in various locations around the home and outside in their vast yard. In her bedroom, she keeps every medal won, credentials, and ID numbers from her various competitions throughout her life. She showed me her prom dress and even her prom date came over for a portrait with Aly.

Interestingly, while I working there was a videographer named Torey Champagne who had been working on a long term documentary on Aly’s bid for the Olympics called Quest For Gold. He was a really cool guy and documented our photo shoot as well as interviewed me. His documentary is currently on Comcast Sports Net…I still haven’t seen it, but if you have…tell me if I made it in!

The next morning I visited her briefly at the gym where she was training with Coach Brestyan. I was simply blown away at how incredibly athletic Aly was. I’ve watch gymnastics on TV whenever the Olympics are on, but until you see the athleticism in person, you have no idea how intense these gymnasts are. When I arrived she was just finishing her bar routine and moving to the balance beam. First of all, that beam is 4″ wide…unbelievable…and she was doing armless flips and twirls with ease. Pretty soon her practice was wound down with a stretching routine that was simply painful to watch.

It’s always a pleasure documenting amazing people. Aly’s the real deal. Go USA!