Behind the lens of a camera, stands a photographer showcasing their skill and imagination—turning real-life moments into long-lasting memories. Three Special Olympics North America photographers do so on their own time, purely because they love what they do and are inspired by Special Olympics athletes.
Marco Catini, Paul Harvey and Ken Smith have been capturing the best Special Olympics moments for years, attending events from local or state competitions to USA Games and World Games, graciously donating their time and talent to the organization. They have formed relationships within the community and in turn, preserve memories that’ll be showcased for generations to come.
Marco Catini
Catini got his start with Special Olympics through a happy accident and has now photographed Special Olympics all over the world, including Special Olympics USA’s experience at the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023. Here is the story in his own words:
“After a few years of taking ‘pretty pictures,’ I wondered if there was something different in it for me. On a whim I asked a friend of a friend if I could photograph her son, Michael, for a day. She agreed to it, and we decided that beforehand I would photograph him during a sports event he was going to compete in. That sports event happened to be the baseball competition at the 2014 Special Olympics USA Games in New Jersey. Up until then, I had never heard of Special Olympics. I had no clue what a big deal USA Games are.
At the event, one of the first things I noticed was the welcoming and positive atmosphere. It just felt like a good place to be. I didn’t stay too long, as my focus was on getting ready for what I really wanted to photograph: A day in the life of Michael.
That day was very enjoyable, and I posted the story on my Facebook page. An employee at Special Olympics New Jersey [SONJ] saw that post and shared it with Special Olympics North America, who then sent me an email acknowledging my work in highlighting my experience of spending a day with somebody who has an intellectual disability. A few months later I started volunteering for SONJ.”
Paul Harvey
With a larger-than-life personality and his trademark mohawk, Harvey has been a fixture at Special Olympics Oregon events for years, serving as a coach and Unified partner long before picking up a camera. Even off the field of play, Harvey has found incredible fulfillment in capturing others’ great sports moments. In terms of what Harvey wants each person to take away from the images he captures; here is his response:
“I want them to smile. I want them to laugh. I want them to cry. I want an uninhibited visceral reaction of joy at what they are seeing in my work. It's that joy, the joy of competition, the joy that I see, from what are admittedly usually the best seats in the place, that I try to convey from an athlete's face to a viewer's eyes. I love it when an athlete who I've never met comes up to me and says something like ‘I loved the picture you took of me at State Games last year!’"
Ken Smith
Smith knows how important capturing these moments is for each athlete, but also recognizes that the photos he shares help Special Olympics better tell the organization’s story as a whole.
“When I picked up photography as a hobby in 2012, I didn't have any specific type of photography in mind. But I started photography at the same time as my first time volunteering at a Special Olympics event and everything fell into place.
The photos I provided to Special Olympics New York from that first event were, based on my current standards ten years later, horrible.
But Special Olympics turned out to be way more than I ever expected it to be! I got the impression Special Olympics New York struggled to find photographers, and I found I enjoyed the challenges of sports photography. The range of abilities Special Olympics athletes have is amazing and doesn't match the common stereotype the public seems to have about people with intellectual disabilities. I wanted to get as good as I could at sports photography to try and help Special Olympics tell their story with photos that show the incredible range of abilities their athletes have.
Almost ten years to the day of me starting to take photos at Special Olympics New York events, that photo appeared on the front page of "The Buffalo Evening News" newspaper sports section along with an article about Special Olympics. So, it was sort of a ‘Mission Accomplished’ moment for me.”
Each day, athletes around the world create lifelong memories by overcoming obstacles and achieving personal bests. Volunteer photographers like Catini, Harvey, and Smith help preserve those memories with their incredible talent and generosity.
