Jb Liautard

"If it takes 20 tries, it takes 20 tries." For Jb Liautard, making a great action photograph is rarely about simply pointing a camera at an exceptional athlete. It's a process of collaboration, persistence and trying to maximise every element in the frame.

That understanding comes partly from having been on the other side of the camera. Based in Valence, France, Jb was a keen mountain biker before he became a photographer. After breaking his collarbone in a biking accident, he began accompanying friends on rides with an action camera, initially making photographs by extracting individual frames from the videos he shot.

Just as importantly, his riding experience gives him a shared culture with the athletes he photographs. Jb grew up watching the same riders and films, giving him references and experiences that help create relationships beyond the photographs themselves. Those relationships deepened during the seven years he spent working closely with a leading bike brand. Travelling and shooting repeatedly with many of the same athletes created friendships and trust, allowing Jb to push his creative ideas further. But working within the same world also eventually gave him what he describes as "tunnel vision", prompting him to return to freelance work and seek new subjects.

His images can be meticulously planned, but Jb also leaves room for the unexpected. Some photographs remain in his head for years while he waits for the right athlete, location and conditions, while others may emerge simply because the expected sunset becomes rain or fog or a rainbow.

That balance between planning and adaptation has defined some of his favourite projects, such as The Art of MTB, created with rider Thomas Genon. Jb wants the photograph to be technically and visually perfect, while the athlete wants the action to be equally strong. "It's always a discussion between us," he says. "I want the best photo, but the athlete wants the best action. Sometimes it takes 20 tries. You keep doing it because you want to maximise everything."

His first book, Climax (2022), brought together 70 photos from years of mountain bike work, and editing it with another photographer taught Jb how to step back from the emotional attachment he might have to an image and judge the photograph itself. The scope of his second book will extend far beyond his mountain biking work.

Jb increasingly sees himself as an outdoor image-maker, applying the techniques and visual approach he developed through mountain biking to running, hiking, fishing, wildlife, landscapes and other subjects. "I love bringing my own style to a new field," he says. "It's a whole new playground and a whole new way of seeing things."

What does a photographer have to earn from an athlete before they can make exceptional images together?

"Trust, for sure. Sometimes I work with athletes who really push themselves and take risks for a photograph. If they don't know what you're doing or what the result could be, why would they take that risk? My best pictures often come from long-lasting relationships with athletes where that trust already exists. It comes through communication too. I show them test shots, explain what I'm trying to achieve and involve them in the process. It has to be a dialogue. The person you are photographing should be part of the shoot rather than simply someone you are giving instructions to."

How do you know when to abandon the image you planned and adapt to what is actually happening?

"I think it comes with experience. When I started, if I had an idea and things weren't going my way, I could become lost. Now I realise that almost every outdoor shoot involves problem-solving. You can't control the weather. You expect fog and it is 100 metres higher than you thought, so you have to decide whether to stay, change location or try something completely different. It's good to have ideas in mind, but you also need to remain open to new ones and communicate with the people around you. I'm always thinking about different outcomes – plan B, plan C, plan D – because you need options."

What turns a photograph of an impressive trick into a great photograph in its own right?

"Personal input. When I used to photograph World Cups, you could have 50 or 70 photographers standing together pointing in the same direction. I never felt very comfortable doing that. Even then I wanted to bring something of my own to the scene. I remember shooting a race in fog and using a flash behind the rider as a backlight because I wanted to make the same scene look different. In the end, it's your own vision. Original ideas and concepts help, but it is also your own sensitivity and how you see things. That changes over time, and what I love today might not be what I love tomorrow. I think that evolution is normal."

What piece of Canon kit can you not live without, and why?

"If I had to keep one camera from everything I've used, it would be the Canon EOS R3. Its low-light performance is incredible, it's relatively lightweight, the battery life is great and I've never had problems using it in bad weather. The autofocus, burst shooting and the rest of the specifications fit what I do very well. I often shoot action in low light, so I don't necessarily need the highest possible resolution. For the way I work, the EOS R3 gives me a really good balance."

What else could we discover in your kitbag that helps you elevate your work?

"I always have tape. I also carry lots of different kinds of lights – Canon flashes, continuous lights, headlamps – and usually a small reflector and diffuser. I'm often working in a run-and-gun setup somewhere in the mountains, sometimes without an assistant, so everything needs to be compact and lightweight. Small pieces of equipment that can make a big difference are really important to me."

"Sometimes you are only one message away from making a great photograph. Reaching out to people can still be difficult for me, but you have to take that step. And above all, go out and shoot. You don't need to travel across the world to make good photographs – some of my favourite landscape images were made only minutes from home. You can spend hours watching tutorials, but nothing replaces going outside with your camera, making bad photographs and learning from them."

Website: jbliautard.com

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