From a wildcard to the winner's circle: that was JB Liautard's journey at this year's Pro Photographer Showdown (PPS). As a result, the French freelancer will be highlighted in September's issue of Forecast Ski Magazine.
Some brand-new Arc'teryx gear and his name on the recognizable championship trophy (carved by Lil'wat artisan Redmond Q̓áwam̓ Andrews) won't hurt either.
"It means a lot, honestly," Liautard says about his breakthrough on April 8. "It's not easy being a photographer in this industry nowadays, especially after COVID; the industry took a big hit and so did we. It's something really subjective in the end, photography, so having people judge your work is always humbling. You don't always win, but when you win, it's the best feeling."
Aaron Schwartz may not have tasted the sweet feeling of victory, but he wooed viewers with a predominantly black-and-white snowboarding portfolio that got him the People's Choice Award. Schwartz is a graduate of the Emily Carr University of Art + Design and is based in Switzerland for now.
Other contestants included Washingtonian Paris Gore, Morgan Maassen of Santa Barbara, Calif., and Revelstoke's Zoya Lynch. The latter was unable to attend the PPS on Tuesday night.
"I have a lot of respect, especially as we all have super different styles. It's like comparing stuff that are not truly the same, so that's what makes this contest hard as well," remarks Liautard. "You have Aaron with black and white, super graphic lines in the snow, then Paris with a different approach [to mountain biking], and then Morgan with his water shots that are insane. I'm glad we can spend time together."
Before kicking off the show, event organizers played a warmly-received tribute to local pro snowboarder Jeff Keenan, Idahoan Alex Pashley and Kaslo native Jason Remple, all of whom tragically passed away in a March 24 avalanche.
'Run and gun'
Hailing from Valence, Liautard picked up mountain biking early but didn't get into photography until a crash at 14 years old broke his collarbone. The youngster still wanted to keep up with his friends on the weekends and realized a good camera might enable him to do so.
Quickly discovering that he enjoyed the shoot as much as the ride, Liautard purchased his first DSLR at 18 years of age. He's 29 now and continues to travel the globe capturing his favourite sport in all manner of gorgeous, remote locales.
Liautard put his love of mountain biking on full display at the Whistler Conference Centre. His showcase featured athletes in a variety of landscapes: forests, canyons and rocky terrain. Many of Liautard's shots were taken at dawn or dusk, and his skilful manipulation of lighting had event patrons oohing and aahing.
"It's a time of the day where I can mix natural light and artificial light without having huge gear," Liautard explains. "I'm just having a backpack and I can do stuff like run and gun. Where I live, it's not like B.C., it's not all pretty outside, so the easiest way I found to make things look good is to control everything, control the lighting, control what was going on."
The PPS has been on Liautard's radar since he was just entering the photography field, and he's thrilled to finally win it.
"[This competition] gathers some of the best photographers in the industry," he says. "Just being part of it was honestly the highlight for me. I had shoulder surgery at the beginning of the year, so I was not doing much, and then I saw … there's a wildcard entry. I had time to prepare my work and submit, and then I was super happy because this trip to Whistler came right after I could [start] moving better."
Find out more about Liautard's career at jbliautard.com.
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