Picture This: Marcus Smith on Photographing LeBron James for Nike

Colour, movement, and intention are Marcus Smith’s hallmarks, and he deploys them with the grace of the basketball player he’s been his entire life. He can step into a real-life scenario and capture iconic imagery on the fly or walk onto a set and direct sparkling, spontaneous moments that feel like real life. He’s thoughtful but swift, confident but open. Whether he’s shooting an apparel campaign, a pro athlete, or portraits of everyday change makers, Marcus trains his focus on the human narrative. Even at its most experimental, his work has heart and intention, and the proof can be seen in his portfolio, with Meta, Chase, Google, Gatorade, Nike, Apple, Adidas, Bose, Coca-Cola, and ESPN The Magazine among the brands attracted to the honesty and beauty of his storytelling. Marcus has been recognized by the International Photo Awards (he won 1st Place in the Sports/Court Sports category for his portrait of Kobe Bryant), Communication Arts, and American Photography 32, and he was named to PDN’s 30 in 2014

LBB> What was it about the initial brief that intrigued you?

Marcus> In 2017, I was hired by Nike to photograph LeBron James right after he returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers and led them to their first ever NBA title. I’m a huge basketball fan and a big LeBron fan, so receiving this assignment was particularly interesting to me.  Definitely a dream project to work on.  

The initial brief was to create an iconic image that represented the first time LeBron would be stepping back onto the court after winning a title for his hometown. But this wasn’t just any title. The road there was particularly emotional. First, LeBron left the Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat in a televised breakup that saw people burning his jersey in the street because they were so angry. When he came back, the Cavs made it to the Finals but were down 3-1 and trying to do something that had never been done in NBA history: Stage a comeback against one of the best teams, the Golden State Warriors. LeBron stepping back onto the court for this team was another peak in what had been a roller coaster ride for fans.  

LBB> What were your first steps when it came to breaking down the brief and formulating your ideas?

Marcus> The year before, I created a similar image of Kobe Bryant, except he was walking off the court instead of coming onto it. The challenge I had to address was, How do we make this one feel like its own thing and not like it’s just a copy of the Kobe image?    

LBB> What were the interesting or challenging conversations that you had with the art director or client? 

Marcus> On big shoots like this, there are always a lot of moving parts. The biggest one is always time. Would I be able to get an incredibly emotional portrait of LeBron taking in this moment in a short period of time? Luckily for me, this was my third time working with LeBron; a few months prior, I had spent two weeks documenting him in China. There was familiarity and trust that I could play off of.  

The production as a whole also came with some particularly large challenges. The whole shoot concept was dependent on re-creating a real moment that involved the real stadium, but the circus was in town when we were scheduled to shoot, and they had booked the Cleveland Cavaliers’ stadium. It was impossible for us to shoot where the team played.  We ended up renting out a community college and having set design literally re-create a corner of the Cleveland Cavs stadium. Simple, right!? In the tunnel of the Cavs stadium, there is custom carpet that the owner had flown in from Italy. Of course, we couldn’t replicate that, so instead the set designers photographed it and had a high-quality vinyl print created to cover the floor. Next, for the actual shot, we hired around 200 extras to represent the crowd and designed all the signs they held. The fun part was that most of them were true fans and got to enjoy being a part of this process.   

LBB> How do you generally like to work with your cast/subjects to get the best out of them? 

Marcus> I typically like to spend time with my subjects building some trust, so that they can let their guard down a bit and feel natural in front of the camera. On commercial shoots, there isn’t usually time to do that, and you have to figure out how to speed up the process. I usually talk with my subjects between shots. I love researching the people I photograph (if they’re famous) and figuring out other interesting things to talk about besides what they do for a living. So if they play basketball, I refuse to bring up basketball unless they do! LOL.  

LBB> And on this occasion, what was it you were really keen to capture in your subject/cast? What was the chemistry like on set and how did you work with them?

Marcus> I really wanted to capture the emotion of what it was like to go through such a harrowing experience. The question I kept asking myself is, What does that look like in one frame?  Unlike film, where the music and other elements help build that connection, a photograph had to say everything in one frame.  

LBB> What were the interesting technical challenges that this project brought up and how did you address them?

Marcus> The biggest technical challenge was lighting such an incredibly large space. We used a rigged light called balloons. It’s basically a floating white silk with a light in it to create a stadium lighting atmosphere, but one that’s a bit more flattering. We also had 25 to 30 flood lights being operated on a DMX board that moved and created dynamic hard lights that illuminated LeBron and the rest of the crowd.   

LBB> How did the day of the shoot go? Any spontaneous opportunities or surprises?

Marcus> We were very prepared. We had a two-day prelight setting up the scene and working with a stand-in to represent LeBron, so that when he came we could be as efficient as possible. Once he came in, my team and I were like a well oiled machine, moving fluidly through everything we had been rehearsing. LeBron was super happy and had some good banter with the fans who came as extras to support the shoot.  

LBB> What is it about this project that stays with you? What made it different to anything else you’ve worked on?

Marcus> As a kid from the Southside of Chicago, I grew up playing basketball. It was one of the most important things in my life. When I got into photography in college, you could say that replaced my basketball. Before doing it myself, I never knew being a photographer was a thing, so to combine my first love and my second love into something that led to this project is incredibly humbling, especially since it was for a brand I saw create iconic imagery for iconic athletes over the years and I was now a part of that.