Jennifer Pottheiser, right, works with members of the 2008 U.S. Olympic basketball “Redeem Team” in an ad for Nike. Below left, one of her split-screen photos for the NBA.
Photo courtesy Jennifer Pottheiser
October 30, 2008
“I think we shot 50 guys; I think I had shot all of them several times before.” Sounds like a boastful serial killer. But photographer Jennifer Pottheiser was just talking about her iconic series of advertisements featuring some of the highest-profile athletes in the National Basketball Association.
The ads — a split screen of two NBA stars extolling the virtues of hard play — made their debut prior to the playoffs earlier this year. A “sister campaign” of television commercials was similarly effective. “The way it worked was that we would go to different locations all over the country and there would be a hotel ballroom that we would split in two. One side would be stills, one side would be video. Sometimes [the venue] would be locker rooms or arenas. It varied from city to city.”
Pottheiser, 35, does not do sports photography exclusively, but it is her favorite genre. “I usually liken it to being an attorney: There are some that do a little bit of everything, but in general real estate attorneys do real estate and matrimonial attorneys deal with marriage.… Most of what I have done is athletes, so when potential clients see my work, they say we could hire for anything that has to do with sports.”
Pottheiser got her start in sports photography relatively late for a professional. “It found me,” she said. She built her reputation during a summer internship with the NBA in 1993 when she was a student at Duke University. An English major, she took a couple of classes in film documentary and was hooked. “It was a big basketball school, but it wasn’t a big photography school,” she said. Nevertheless, she gained experience by working for the yearbook as an editor-in-chief and photographer. “It was a time when photography still was done with film. If I spent four years at college, I probably spent two of them in a dark- room.”
Pottheiser tried several different photography-related jobs, including an internship at Rolling Stone and as an apprentice in fashion and portrait studios — before focusing on working behind the lens. She returned to the NBA in 1998, seeking an opportunity. “Sometimes you just need someone to give you a chance and then what you do with that chance is up to you.” She is not, however, an employee of the NBA, but remains a freelancer and works in other sports as well, such as the U.S. Tennis Association, the National Hockey League, and the WNBA. “I could never have a job where I had to go to the same place everyday, be somewhere for defined hours,” she said. “I know deep down that the different things I get to do every day is one of the things I love about my job.”
Pottheiser grew up in Livingston and attended Temple Emanu-El of West Essex. These days she makes her home in Westfield with her husband, Nat, a staff photographer with the NBA.
“Everyone always wants the gory stories about how mean and terrible and horrific all of the pro athletes are to work with, but I don’t really have any. The basketball players are great; they know I’m not going to bother them. The hockey players are great.
“It seems that the degree of obligation on the athlete has a fair amount to do with how they work as a subject.” For example, she said players tend to be more “ornery” after a long day of practice or a loss the day before. “But in general, they know that if I tell them the shoot is going to be 30 minutes, it’s a 30-minute shoot. I don’t like to have too many surprises.”
When it comes to looking good for the camera, Pottheiser insists the athlete’s gender doesn’t matter. “It really depends on the person. It’s like any segment of society. I’m sure there are men you work with who wouldn’t come into the office if their hair wasn’t perfect and women you could say the same about.”
For samples of Pottheiser’s work, visit her website, www.pottheiser.com
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