Ben Girardi has been named a semi-finalist for the Red Bull Illume competition's Best of Instagram category. The Pembertonian earns the nod thanks to two eyebrow-raising images he captured in Whistler's iconic backcountry, featuring 2018 Olympic bronze medallist skier Alex Beaulieu-Marchand and snowboarder Sean Miskiman.
"I am honoured to have my work included in the semi-finals of the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest," said Girardi in a press release. "Now I need votes from the community to help my images get into the finals."
The Red Bull Illume billed as the world's leading action and adventure sports photography competition. Girardi's work is showcased among a gallery of 25 images from various photographers. He is no stranger to this type of spotlight, having also participated in this year's Sea to Sky Photography challenge during the World Ski and Snowboard Festival (WSSF).
Members of the public have until June 17 at 4:59 p.m. Pacific Time to vote for their favourite shots. Community voting decides who will move forward as a finalist, and each individual can only vote once on the Red Bull website.
Red Bull shared on its contest website, “The five photos and five reels with the most votes will be chosen as official finalists of this year’s Red Bull Illume edition. The creators will then be invited to the Red Bull Illume Winner Award Ceremony in Sölden, Austria from November 28 to 30, 2023, and their work will be on display in the global exhibit tour and will be celebrated around the world.”
The man behind the lens
Girardi is a professional commercial and editorial outdoor photographer who tells stories in the outdoor world.
He found photography in the darkroom in a high school class and was instantly hooked. His love for photography soon aligned with his passion for snowboarding as he captured the story of riding with his friends.
After graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in photography, Girardi moved to Utah, looking for bigger mountains and deeper snow. His work has taken him around the world, from Alaska to Argentina and everywhere in between.
His images capture the power and beauty of nature to inspire others to get outside and explore. His focus is working in the mountains with elite athletes and global brands.
After meeting his Canadian wife in the Argentine Andes, Girardi moved to Pemberton and is now a dual Canadian-American citizen, splitting his time between British Columbia and Utah. He is a passionate snowboarder and loves being in the mountains. If he isn’t shooting, he will still be found in the mountains boarding.
The story behind your shot: Alex Beaulieu-Marchand
"The snow on this day wasn't the best," wrote Girardi as part of his contest submission. "A wind event affected the snow, and our expectations were low. It was still early in the season, so we spent most of the day sledding around, looking at how the snow had started filling things in.
I'm always down for getting out on my snowmobile to explore the glaciers on a sunny day. You never know what opportunities will pop up. The crew was mainly going out to get some lifestyle shots they needed for the film they were working on. Any skiing action shots we got in would be a bonus.
We were setting up some lifestyle shots with some of the other riders when [Beaulieu-Marchand] found this feature. He made quick work of the jump while I found this angle. When shooting in the backcountry, I look at a feature from every direction to see what might work. I really liked the rocky foreground for this shot.
It wasn't long before the session ended, and we were sledding back to our trucks with the sun setting. I was stoked to be headed home with this shot."
The story behind your shot: Sean Miskiman
"This was from a day in the Whistler backcountry with 'The Manboys,'" recalled Girardi. "They built the jump the day before and called me asking if I wanted to come shoot it. It’s always an easy yes from me when a crew has a feature ready to go.
With jumps this big, you don’t have the chance to reshoot if you miss a shot, so you have to be confident in the first angle you choose. This jump had a lot of different options for angles that made it look good. I shot those for the first couple of hits as I knew they would make the jump look good and represent the tricks the riders were doing the best.
The other riders, Chris Rasman and Matt Belzile, landed tricks within a couple of tries. They let Sean Miskiman keep hitting it by himself, so the landing stayed fresh.
Sean battled this trick for a while, giving me more time to explore different angles and try other shots. I found this angle on one of his last hits and was really happy. I hadn’t considered it initially because this angle doesn’t typically work for a regular-footed rider spinning a frontside 360 because their back is to the camera. However, since the jump was so big, Sean had to slow down his rotation, and this angle was one of my favourites from the session."
