Discover the sports photography legend who's first name famous

Belgian cyclist Jolien D'Hoore competes in the Women's Omnium Individual Pursuit event during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on August 15, 2016. Photo: Elsa / Getty Images

Elsa Garrison is a trailblazer in the world of sports photography. She was the first woman staff photographer at Getty Images and is renowned for her images capturing iconic moments in sports history. She's known in the industry simply by her first name, which says quite a lot. Her work includes coverage of collegiate and professional events worldwide, including (but certainly not limited to) the Olympics, World Series, Super Bowl, NBA Finals, US Open, FIFA World Cup and NCAA Final Four. She is in the depths of a busy time of year, but despite that, she took the time to answer some questions about her work and experiences as a sports photographer.

Elsa's first experience with photography was in ninth grade when she took an elective analog photography class. That quickly segued into working with the school yearbook and newspaper, photographing her friends who played sports to share the experience with them. Then, during her sophomore year, she was matched for a mentorship with local newspaper photographer Steve Kohls, who worked for the Brainerd Daily Dispatch in Brainerd, Minnesota. That experience was followed by a part-time job working for the paper, which involved photographing lots of high school sports.

New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera walks onto the field at Yankee Stadium before facing the San Franciso Giants on September 22, 2013. The occasion marked Mariano Rivera Day, a special tribute to him by the Yankees. Photo: Elsa / Getty Images

Her interest in photojournalism continued, and Elsa earned a Bachelor of Journalism at the University of Missouri. During her college years, she continued to work part-time, this time with the university's athletic department, the town paper and the Associated Press. In 1996, soon after graduating college, Elsa was hired by Allsport, a sports photo agency. Getty Images acquired Allsport in 1998, but she stayed on as a staff photographer and continues to work there to this day.

"I felt like I had to justify my existence or prove myself every single day."

Sports photography has, like so many other fields, traditionally been a very male-dominated field. "When I first started, a lot of the time, I would be the only woman on the field other than the cheer squad or members of the medical staff," explained Elsa. She said that was true even in cities with larger media markets. There weren't enough women traveling and covering sports like she was when she began her career, which came with its own challenges. "It was often isolating and I questioned my choices a lot," she said. "I felt like I had to justify my existence or prove myself every single day and that is emotionally exhausting."

Sabrina Ionescu, number 20 of the New York Liberty, celebrates with her husband, Hroniss Grasu, after the Liberty secured the WNBA championship against the Minnesota Lynx on October 20, 2024. Photo: Elsa / Getty Images

Now, though, she sees more women working as team photographers or as photographers for the wires, papers and league social teams. She explained that she has seen tremendous growth especially in the last five years, as more women get opportunities to work in sports.

"My hope is that girls and women see themselves in sport."

Aiding in that growth is important to Elsa; to that end, she actively mentors women and underrepresented photographers. She greatly values mentorship because it can be a pathway to achieving goals and dreams. "There is a saying that if you can see it you can be it. To see women succeeding in sport photography gives others the courage to pursue it," she explained. "My hope is that girls and women see themselves in sport – as an athlete or someone like me who covers it as a photographer – and that they know not only do they belong here, but that their contributions are worthy and needed."

Elsa's work spans just about every sport you could imagine. She said she doesn't have a favorite to document but loves soccer, baseball, tennis and combat sports like boxing and MMA. That said, capturing playoffs and finals of any sport is what she truly loves. "The atmosphere is different than a regular season game as more is on the line. The matchups are usually tight and the environment is electric," she explained.

Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, the gold medalist of the Women's Floor Exercise, celebrates on the podium with silver medalist Simone Biles and bronze medalist Jordan Chiles, both from the United States, during the Medal Ceremony at the Parist 2024 Olympic Games on August 5, 2024. Photo: Elsa / Getty Images

Of course, photographing those big events comes with challenges, too. "Every venue is different, and it is working out the logistics of where to shoot, what moments are important and how technically to capture those and deliver them in real time," Elsa explains. Photographing major sporting events means images often need to be sent in immediately, with captions, so they can be published right away. To help with this, she uses voice captions that are attached to the photographs, making it faster for the editor to get caption information.

Elsa has photographed many monumental sporting events that are full of memorable moments for fans and athletes. However, she says she generally doesn't grasp the gravity of the moment until after the fact. She's more focused on documenting the scene and technical aspects of what camera and lens choice she needs, so she doesn't process the importance until after the event.

"I love the challenge of capturing the moments that people will be writing about and talking about that day and for years to come."

However, that doesn't mean she doesn't see the importance of her work – she said that having the ability to freeze moments in history is truly special. "I get butterflies in my stomach when I get the feeling something big is going to happen – the final seconds of a World Cup final or the last out of game seven in a world series," she said. "I am not a sports fan per se, but I love the challenge of capturing the moments that people will be writing about and talking about that day and for years to come."

Elsa's work speaks for itself, with countless powerful, iconic shots of major sporting moments. More importantly, though, she has also left a lasting impact on the world of sports photography, paving the way for even more women. You can see more of Elsa's work in most places where sports photos are shown, on her website and on Instagram.