This is how it all began: careering through the streets of Calcutta in a battered taxi, Jim Morrison's voice blasting from the tape deck: “Keep your eyes on the road your hands upon the wheel!”. Wildly incongruous, yet somehow the perfect soundtrack to this, the start of my first professional - and utterly surreal - filming assignment.
It was November 1999. Two weeks in India, followed by two weeks in Nepal, producing and self-shooting football features for Tricky Pictures and the globally distributed Western Union World Football TV show. What followed was 15 thrilling months zigzagging across India, Nepal, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guatemala, Panama, Greece and beyond, capturing the world’s passion for football in all its quirky glory. It was, without question, the opportunity of a lifetime (thanks to my mentors Tony Smith and Tim Exton for taking a chance on me!)
From reporting on 11-a-side elephant matches in Thailand, to football-obsessed Tibetan Buddhist monks fiercely competing in an inter-monastery tournament, and even the stray Costa Rican dog believed to be the reincarnation of a former player, every shoot was an adventure.
And yet, despite so many memories, it was that first, wild and jet-lagged taxi ride from Calcutta airport to my hotel that stayed with me the most. When the driver asked for music, I handed him the first tape I found in my backpack. As The Doors blasted through the chaos, I instinctively pulled out my Sony VX1000 video camera and hit record.
For years, I recalled that I'd captured this moment but thought it was to remain just a memory - until I recently came across an old MiniDV tape in the loft. After performing some critical DIY open-cassette surgery on it (thanks You Tube!), I’m thrilled to share this short excerpt of a taxi ride like no other, as I experienced it.
The footage is raw and beautifully vivid; to me it’s a very personal reminder of how and why I fell in love with storytelling through the lens. MiniDV was seldom a beloved format but for me it still holds a certain magic to it.
To this day, I'm lucky to still spend much of my professional career capturing and reporting on the beauty, passion and humanity of football. In November 2024, exactly a quarter of a century after that Calcutta trip, I was in Milan, co-shooting a feature on France’s surprise victory over Italy at a packed San Siro for UEFA/IMG. The technology has changed and my shots are steadier, but the drive to tell authentic, compelling stories is as strong as ever. Here’s to the next adventure!
Disclaimer: Any commercial music heard in this video is incidental and was captured naturally during filming. I do not own the rights to this music, and no copyright infringement is intended.