Photo by Holly Webb

 

Today I went back to another climbing wall in Sheffield and took some more photos for my project. On my last shoot I really think I stepped up my game with the photography side as I loved using the 1.4f lens and think that my portraiture really benefitted.

Because of this, I was excited to go back and take some more shots. I’ve really enjoyed photographing this topic and it has confirmed that this is something that I would love to do in the future as a career.

Not only did I photograph a lot of candid shots of strangers (with their permission) but I also stopped a couple of the climbers and had a couple of vox-pop style interviews on their thoughts on the climbing community.

These are a few of my favourite shots from today (edited):

 

 

 

   

 

Again, I found it very hard to narrow down all my shots into only these (this time, I had taken over 300 photos). I am definitely going to find it impossible to narrow down all my photos into only 12 for my project. It will possibly be the hardest part of all of this! 🙂

In addition to the photos, I also spoke to a couple of people at the climbing gym. I’ve included two of the interviews below, one is a climber called Gabriel, and one was a coach at the gym called Carol:

 

Gabriel Osbourne:

G: I’ve been climbing for about eight or nine years I would say… but the first few years of that I was probably only going once a week before I really got into it. I went to uni four years ago now, so I’d say for the last four years I’ve been climbing a bit more seriously. I’ve probably been coming about four times a week for the last four years.

H: So what got you into climbing in the first place?

G: I just saw it as something unique to do, like a unique hobby to do on weekends. I had a lot of energy to burn when I was younger so I remember the first time I went climbing I loved how intense it was.

H: And why do you like it so much now? Why did you carry on?

G: I like the way it kind of combines strength with skill. So you can’t just be strong to be good at it, you’ve got to have technique, and have a good degree of strength too. When you do the harder moves it can be like an entire body workout.

H: What’s it like being a part of the climbing community?

G: It’s really sociable, especially bouldering. I find it really sociable, people are always willing to have a chat and sometimes people come down (to the indoor gym) just for a chat or the social factor. You always see the same people training which is really nice.

H: So do you go to uni here?

G: Yeah I go to uni here, but I’m from Bristol originally which has quite a big climbing scene itself. It’s different though, I guess it’s harder to get outside down in Bristol. Up here I have also noticed there’s quite a strong training ethic too. You’ll come to a climbing centre here and the chances are there will be a bunch of people training, but when I used to climb down in Bristol I never really saw that many people training for it. So I think people are a bit more switched on in Sheffield, as it’s a huge part of Sheffield life climbing is.

H: So did you decide to come to uni here because of the climbing?

G: Yeah it was a big part of why I chose Sheffield. The Peak District is 15 minutes away. There is so many world-class boulders within like half an hours drive from here – there’s not that many other decent-sized cities in the UK where you can still get out on the rock within an hour. It’s pretty special.

 

 

Carol Ng:

C: I’ve worked here six years. And I’ve been climbing for like seven years?

H: Why did you start climbing in the first place?

C: I joined a uni group in my third year, and really liked it. I found loads of new friends and it was just really good.

H: What’s your favourite part of being in the climbing community?

C: My favourite part… it is just meeting loads of people and the travelling. So like wherever you go you meet new people and everyone’s pretty nice. People that climb don’t tend to be douchebags haha.

H: What about working here? Has that given you a new perspective on climbing?

C: Definitely more involved in it, but it does get quite complex when you start working in the community too. So I do quite a lot of stuff here, so apart from the usual reception stuff I coach as well so I work with kids and adults and I do some route setting as well – so putting the holds on the wall – so you definitely see it from loads of different points of view. I see it as a climber who turns up and tries the climbs, but I also see the other side.

H: Do you like that then? Because your hobby is your job now…

C: It’s definitely still a hobby for me because it’s definitely a very all-encompassing thing. When you start climbing it kind of takes over your life. You get so involved and you can even come across unhealthy potentially… But yeah it’s good fun which I guess is the main thing, it brings a lot of positive stuff in my life but sometimes when you’re in the environment the whole time it can become less fun. Your friendship circle, your dating circle, it’s all within the same sort of place and for me it’s also my workplace. It can be very intense but overall it has changed my life – I still don’t know if that’s for the better or for the worse.

H: There’s such a variety of people who climb why do you think that is?

C: I guess because it’s something that is quite easy for us as coaches and route-setters to tailor to different abilities. So if you’re new there is something that you can do, and if you’ve been climbing for a long time there is still challenges for you. What I always thought was interesting about climbing is the want to always want to try again? Because that feeling when you get to the top it’s like a high when you complete something. That feeling is something that everyone can get – no matter their ability so I think that’s a huge part of it too so I guess that’s why there’s quite a big range of people who are into it.

H: Why do you think Sheffield is such a good place for the climbing community?

C: It’s because we’re really close to the Peak District. So it’s like a twenty minute drive to get to the nearest crag and there’s not many cities where that can happen in the UK so that does draw a lot of people here.

H: Why do you think they’ve opened at the Depot if there’s already a few here?

C: I think with the inclusion of climbing in the 2020 Olympics, there’s definitely more tension drawn to climbing in the media so more people are getting into it. There’s definitely room here, certain cities have loads of indoor climbing walls so it’s really a surprise that it’s taken this long for another climbing wall to open sooner. I guess they’ve found a gap in the market, but they are still on the other side of town. In a way, we’re all direct competitors but we’re all so different that I don’t necessarily see it that way. There’s also more than enough climbers in Sheffield to share the custom, but like people who work here will go to the other walls and they’ll come to us too. They are all quite different and each wall has its niche. It’s interesting really when you go to a new wall and you can see what they have.

H: So it doesn’t really affect you in that way.

C: We’re still quite busy too, on nice days maybe not so much because that’s one of the factors of Sheffield. If it’s a nice day people tend to go outside into the countryside. If it’s a rainy day everyone is here. In general, weekday evenings are still rammed in here. I was here on Tuesday and you know you can’t even get onto the wall. So maybe it’s better for them to open, because honestly some days we were getting so busy in here – like over capacity.

 

Aims for this week:

• start putting together my piece
• fill in any missing gaps – do I need to take more photos?
• start narrowing down my favourite photos