There are lots of ultrarunners who take photos and a few who take great photos of ultrarunners. This week, iRunFar will explore photography on the trail with the help of one of best photographers in the ultrarunning ranks. This past summer I learned of Tom Sperduto, an award-winning portrait photographer who was interested in photographing ultrarunners. I happily took part in a morning-long photo shoot with Tom and have enjoyed getting to know him over the past year, during which time Tom has become an ultrarunner himself. (Tom finished the JFK 50 mile in November 2008). Before we share Tom’s photographic expertise with you later in the week, we thought we’d share a bit about Tom as well as some of his photography.
Tom Sperduto, Professional Photographer/Ultrarunner
Tom Sperduto is an award-winning photographer who specializes in portraiture with emotional and conceptual significance. He began his photographic career while serving as a photojournalist in the U.S. Coast Guard and the Marines. Today, he shoots editorial and commercial assignments for clients around the world.
One of his recent accomplishments, a portrait of ultra marathon runner Keith Knipling, was awarded the 2008 Advertising Photographers of America Grand Prize award. (This photo was taken at the shoot at which I first met Tom.)
Tom Sperduto’s award-winning photo of ultrarunner, Keith KniplingTom has chosen ultramarathon runners as a long term portrait project and recently shot before and after portraits at the Grindstone in Virginia. You can read about the experience here in Popular Photography magazine [broken link to dead magazine removed].
One of Tom Sperduto’s Grindstone portraitsWhen not making pictures Tom enjoys running and fly-fishing but he rarely can be found doing either without photographing the experience.
Tom recently completed the JFK 50, his first ultra, and photographed the experience while running. You can view some of his images here on his blog.
You can view more of Tom’s work here: https://www.tomsperduto.com . If you’re interested, Tom is available for personal running portrait sessions.
Keith and the Corrises, Tom and Kirstin, at the shoot where we met Tom Sperduto
