Wild at art

At the beginning of his career David Yarrow was photographing sports stars and not wildlife. Aged just 20, he shot an iconic image of footballer Diego Maradona holding the FIFA World Cup aloft after Argentina had won the 1986 final against West Germany in Mexico City. But, despite naming his early photographic heroes as legendary British sports photographers Eamonn McCabe and Chris Smith, Yarrow quickly realised he was in a crowded field.

He explains, ‘I remember being at an Olympic Games… I thought I’d got a good shot and then there were six other adjoining photographers that had exactly the same image. That was only going to go one way with motordrives, digital, frames per second, improved telephoto lenses and improved resolution in low light. With sports photography, even back in 1990, I worried that it was going to become a space characterised by over-supply of imagery.’