David Airey: The Life of a Non-League Photographer
- Ryan Jacobs
- Mar 27
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 28
Sports Photography is an art and can be one of the hardest forms of photography. David Airey has been photographing since he was 13, following in his Dad's footsteps.
Airey has just recently entered the footballing world, having started for Chorley five years ago.
"I've been photographing now for over 40 odd years," he said.
"I've done all sorts of things, but I turned to sports photography about five years ago because it's a genre that I hadn't done before, so that's how I got into it through going to watching Chorley and being involved."
Airey's love for Chorley was evident throughout the interview. He spoke about the time he used to sneak into Victory Park as a child.
"I grew up 50 yards from the ground. I used to play on the pitch as a kid, sneak on and play on the pitch.
"I'm a Chorley lad, so it's great to support the team," he said.
Some matchday goers and staff won't understand that being a photographer for any club is time-consuming, and in Non-League, most are volunteers.
"I get to the ground about 12 o'clock, which is three hours before kick-off.
"I go into the changing room and the corporate lounge, taking photographs of the guests and sponsors. Then, we have community involvement with the children from local schools and other charities.
"Then, I do the warm-up photography, and then we get down to the actual match, the live action.
"Obviously, through the 90 minutes, it's nonstop.
"It is not only just taking photos. You are actually uploading images to the media team so they can use them all socials during the match and full-time," he said.
The away trips are just as long, as some games have had distances over six hours long. Sometimes, different teams have different spots for away team media, which can be challenging.
Dealing with the home fans when they find out you aren't from their club leaves you vulnerable to abuse and other things.
Airey said, "As a photographer, you get a lot of abuse once they find out you are on the visiting side.
"You occasionally get the odd thing thrown at you, but you just don't take them on. You do what you've gotta do, and that's your job."
Dealing with home and away fans is a challenge in itself, but as a photographer, you must also focus on the action of the pitch.
Balancing a moment between a goal and 'celebrations is difficult because both are over within 10, 15, or 20 seconds', so finding the right moment to capture both is challenging.
"The goal is over in a couple of seconds. So you know the fans will carry on celebrating because they will then celebrate with the players. The priority is to get the celebration on the pitch, and then, obviously, the fans can go back and get that moment," Airey said.
"Now, if there's another incident on the pitch, I can also direct the lens to the fans. I have a very long lens, which can shoot from one end of the pitch to the other.
"On a game without a lot of action, it is a lifesaver. Because you get nothing else."
It is not just one eye Airey has to keep on the action but also on the weather.
Airey made it clear that prep is vital at any level of football.
He explains, "It's all about preparation. You can't show up to a football game with just basic equipment. You've got to have the gear because you never know where you might need it.
"I carry a lot of stuff around with me. I've got good wet weather gear, but it is a challenge.
"While you can keep yourself dry, keeping the equipment dry is even harder, and that's the problem because, you viewfinder steams up, your lenses steam up, and all sorts of things. But, you know, you get what you get. That's the way it is. "
The Chorley photographer then explained why having the right gear is so important.
" I've been hit on the end of the lens before, and the cameras come and cut my eye. It's hit me full-on at the end of the lens.
"I carry four cameras to a match. So I have the two main cameras. I like to set up one behind the goal and have a spare, just in case something else is wrong," he said.
"Spennymoore pulled the camera out of the bag, and it wasn't working; it was faulty. I only had three cameras that day, so I always carried extra gear.
"And that's all about being prepared. Like two of everything, two leads, two mounts, two microphones, two card readers, four cameras, you know, different lenses, and that's what it's about.
"Even though it's this level ( Vanarama National League North), you've got to be committed and, you know, if you're doing a job, you wanna do it properly. That's it.
Picking a favourite game can certainly be 'tricky,' but when Chorley came from behind to beat rivals Chester, it made it a whole lot easier.
"Oh, gosh, that's that's a tricky one. When we were two nil down against Chester a couple of weeks ago, we came back and beat them three two.
"The atmosphere was fantastic. We had a really good celebration, and at the end of the game, I had a little tear in my eye just because of the emotion and the tingling you got from the fans. They were fantastic," he added.
Finally, Airey was asked about capturing the emotion of the moment.
"That is why it's my favourite game because it was easy," he said.
"Because the emotion came to me, and the players came to me, they loved it, and so did the fans.
"They were shouting my name and chanting my name. It was because they were enjoying it, and I enjoyed it, and that meant a lot."
If you want to see more of David Airey's work click on the link. David Airey’s albums | Flickr
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