Photographing Man-U | Cover Story

Giggs and Keane (Man-U) play Norwegian side Vålerenga.
The last time I was on assignment was in the hills of Rolpa, photographing the Maoists. A month later I was in Oslo, capital of Norway, the richest country in the world getting ready to take photos of Manchester United! We were half an hour late, and had missed the first goal, a penalty by Man-U. Trishna went up to the exclusive press box as I was directed to the field. Other photographers had already set up their tripods, big fancy cameras and lenses to capture the football action between Man-U and Norwegian side Vålerenga Fotball. The good spots were gone, so I had to wait till half time before walking to the area behind the goal post.

I was fairly ill-equipped for the event because I had no idea we would be given this opportunity. I had a camera and two lenses, a wide-angle and a 155x zoom lens. The other photographers had at least two cameras, one of them digital, a box of lenses that had a zoom capability of 1500x and more. I wondered if I would be able to get any good shots and whether my lenses were right for this event. What would happen is my hands froze when I needed them to be clicking away, or if I ran out of film? Being surrounded by expereinced older photographers and their equipment intimidated me, but it wasn't as intimidating as the fact that I was photographing one of the best football teams. I had spoken to Tsering, our Assistant Editor, earlier that day. She had asked me to get "really good shots," words that echoed in my head during the match. "If only Beckham was here too," I thought to myself. Call me ignorant, but he was the only player that I knew. Bringing his photos for Man-U fans in Nepal, especially my friends Suarpana and Samir, would be fantastic. We were told Beckham didn't come because he wanted to spend time with his wife Victoria, who was expecting their second child.

Roy Keane and Fabien Barthez signing autographs the next day.
In the second half, Vålerenga equaled the score. There had to be another Man-U goal for victory and I was determined to capture that moment. Then it happened- Diego Forlan made a run from the half line, dogged a few opponents, sent a blazing pass to Roy Keane who was waiting. Keane strikes- and it's a Goooaaallll! The stadium roared. I remember clicking through those six precious seconds but I was anxious, did I capture the moment of the architect executing his moves in the final moment? Unfortunately the movement of the camera as I shifted from Diego Forlan to Keane and then into the net created blurry images. My excitement was overwhelming; I had witnessed a brilliant play through my camera lens, possibly well-photographed. I had never imagined I'd watch Man-U play, let alone take photographs of them from the same pitch!