Guest Anatomy of a Photo: Here We Rest

photo by Camille McMillan

@steampunk dropped this beauty of a photo on us. Volumes being spoken here, none of which makes being a pro look so great. Thanks Steamy.

VLVV, Gianni

I’ve waxed lyrical on the darker side of le métier on these pages in the past””on the physical and psychological demands that pro riders endure. But this photograph requires even more of the cycling fan. Tan lines? Check. Eye wear? Well placed. These are pro, right?

But this kind of voyeurism almost inspires an awkward kind of guilt. Witness: the still-open door; the suitcase stand still leaning against the wall””suitcase dumped on the floor beside it; shoes (as beaten and worn down as the rider) askew in the general vicinity of the shoe mat. How do we process these? Dingy hotel. Emaciated rider. Sun-burned face. Chapped lips. Hunched shoulders. Heavy head. Distant eyes. Broken. Total, utter, complete fatigue. And tomorrow they expect panache. Again.

Steampunk

In never-ending search for la voluptÃ©, Steampunk is an unreconstructed Canadian west coaster transplanted to Ontario, where he rides on every opportunity and sometimes shows up to work as a professor of history. He is a careful student of the Rules and la vie Velominatus, but is not beyond (occasionally) distilling them down to a single path: la vie Cognoscentus. The BFGs are always locked and loaded (that sound you just heard was your soul being crushed by their power). On a more serious note, he is a staunch advocate of commuting by bike and he also fundraises for Bikes to Rwanda.

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View Comments

Steampunk says:

Jan 5 2013 at 2:28 pm

@brian

It goes without saying, too, that more Canadians definitely raise the classiness of this dump of a site exponentially.
PeakInTwoYears says:

Jan 5 2013 at 5:03 pm

@Pedale.Forchetta

have a look at his beautiful site http://camillejohnmcmillan.com/

Wow. The Reynolds photos--just what I went to first--have color and texture that are hyper-real. Just gorgeous. I can feel and smell the grease and metal shavings.
Rob says:

Jan 5 2013 at 5:19 pm

@brian

"cycling was so pure,i mean you watched every calorie you,you trained in the pissing rain,it was,you know,to see how good you could be.so much suffering,for fleeting glimspes of glory and i don't just mean winning,finishing spring races in sleeting snow/rain,glasses fogged up ,can't see,sucking the wheel in front of you. damn i miss those days."

Brian this has to be the best summation of what I imagine we all feel/felt about racing - love it! Welcome.

Steamy, in my very limited stage race experience after the fifth day any activity off the bike resulted in the thousand mile stare and a goofy surreal existence but on the bike reality returned and a laser like (well as much as I have ever had a laser like mind) race mentality locked in.

So in a funny way this image evokes not a pity response but more nostalgia for that "special" feeling that I only ever had in those moments.
DerHoggz says:

Jan 5 2013 at 5:28 pm

@PeakInTwoYears

@Pedale.Forchetta

have a look at his beautiful site http://camillejohnmcmillan.com/

Wow. The Reynolds photos-just what I went to first-have color and texture that are hyper-real. Just gorgeous. I can feel and smell the grease and metal shavings.

Working in a metal shop, I must disagree, nothing gorgeous about that stuff.
PeakInTwoYears says:

Jan 5 2013 at 6:16 pm

@DerHoggz

The setting is exotic to me, so I respond like the bookish effete wanker that I am. But looking at those images I get a hit of my grandfather the ironworker's shop, which was a magical place for a little kid.
anthony says:

Jan 5 2013 at 6:28 pm

My god what our heros to them selves in the name sport. I don't see anything pitiful in this image, I see a warrior. I know that sounds cheesy.
scaler911 says:

Jan 5 2013 at 7:54 pm

@Steampunk

@chipomarc

Are you referring to the recent Canadian Cycling cover?

I love the jersey. And note the bike comes from his father.

@Xyverz

My take was that this was the less glamorous side. Naturally the subject has shifted our focus to talk about doping, aftermath, etc., but I suspect you could superimpose most pros into this scene.

@brian

Welcome, mate.

@scaler911

Drew Bledsoe? Really??

I loathe American Football now to be honest. His was just a name that came to mind when I was tapping out that post. I used to really love FB when I was a kid. Somehow it seemed better then. My grandfather was friends with Jim Plunkett both being Stanford Alumni.
Steampunk says:

Jan 5 2013 at 8:16 pm

@scaler911

I'm almost loath to admit that I have a degree from WSU, so the Drew Bledsoe comment piqued my curiosity.
Marcus says:

Jan 5 2013 at 8:46 pm

@DerHoggz

There are life suspensions around - but they are for recidivists, eg. The Hard man from Marblehead. Not sure whether the Cobra has one too?
Geoff says:

Jan 5 2013 at 9:09 pm

For the love of God. Let's all please refrain from destroying Camille's outstanding portrait by mangling it with "sepia" or a BW conversion. If that's how they wanted it, that's how they would have made it. Camillle's photo, not ours. Camille's just letting us all appreciate it.

It truly is a great portrait. You guys should drop the name into Google and check out some of the other work. Great stuff. Also, Kristof Ramon & Emiliano Granado & Daniel Wakefield Pasley do excellent cycling documentary photography.