The America's Cup: From Land, Sea & Air by Ezra Shaw

The America's Cup: From Land, Sea & Air

Sports Action, second prize stories

September 22, 2013

Oracle Team USA warms up before the 14th race of the America’s Cup. The 34th America’s Cup was held in San Francisco Bay in September. Oracle Team USA had to defend their title against challengers Emirates Team New Zealand. A team needs to win a total of nine races to secure the cup. By the eleventh day of the contest, the New Zealand team, skippered by Dean Barker, led 8-1. Skippered by James Spithill, Oracle Team then staged an extraordinary comeback, winning eight races in a row to beat the New Zealanders and retain the cup.

Commissioned by: Getty Images

Photo Credit: Ezra Shaw

Ezra Shaw has been working for Getty Images as staff photographer for more than 15 years. He began his career assisting many Sports Illustrated photographers in both London and New York City. After settling down in New York City, Shaw spent nearly 10 years traveling the world with New York City as his base before relocating to Sydney, Australia, in 2006 to experience what life “down under” had to offer. After spending nearly three years in Australia, Shaw relocated to Marin County in northern California.

His assignments have included both the Winter and Summer Olympic games, the Super Bowl, World Series, World Cup, Tour de France, and numerous other events. His pictures have appeared in many publications around the world, and Shaw has won awards in the World Press Photo, NPPA Pictures of the Year, World Photography Awards, Pictures of the Year International, and the Alexia Foundation for World Peace.

In addition to day-to-day game coverage, Shaw enjoys working on human interest feature stories in the sports world. The features have ranged from a 500-mile wheelchair race across Alaska focusing on a former gang member who lost the use of legs in a shooting, to a bike race that crossed 580 kilometers of the Simpson Desert in Australia, and to a story about the about huka-huka wrestling in the Xingu National Park of the Amazon rainforest of Brazil.

Shaw is a graduate of Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications.