A cricket photographer looks at the best moments he’s captured

By Shaniya Harding
IN the year 2000, Randy Brooks was working in a supermarket when he realised that this wasn’t what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Randy picked up the phone and told his father he wanted to leave his convenient store job to become a photographer. And thus began Randy’s journey as a photographer specialising in capturing the best moments from the cricket pitch.
Hailing from St Michael on the outskirts of the capital city in Barbados, Randy was surrounded by photography for the entirety of his life. His father, Gordon Brooks, was also a photographer and opened his printing studio in 1971, the same year that Randy was born. Randy shared his childhood memories, particularly those of his father’s darkroom, where photos are placed to develop, “I grew up with photography all around me and it was all at home. The darkroom was at home where I lived. I have childhood memories of going into the dark room and not seeing anything. And I wasn’t allowed to touch certain things because I could damage it [sic],” Randy recalled.

Looking back now, photography seemed to be a given or a birthright that was always there, but it was never his first choice. “I didn’t go into photography right away. But every step of my life I was always somewhere around the studio. Then I made the decision. I want to get into this thing full time,” he said. And at the age of 18, Randy took on the family business and became a professional photographer. Randy’s father later retired in 2010 and then passed away in 2021. Today, the responsibility of the studio is shared between Randy and his brother. And it appears it will stay in the family, as Randy’s son has expressed interest in photography as well.

Rallying around the West Indies
Gordon Brooks spent a great deal of his time travelling with the West Indies team. In the early years, photography was not as simple and clean cut as it is today. In his travels as a boy with his father to different countries, Rany described how his father then had to travel with the team. And he carried far more than a camera and a few lenses. “We had to travel with the processing kit. My father had to travel with an enlarger. He had to process the film, make the prints and get the prints delivered. That was a long process.”

When asked about memorable moments, he cited Courtney Walsh’s 500th Test wicket. Randy stated, “I remember going to Jamaica for the first time at Sabina Park. My father told me to go upstairs because Walsh was about to take his 500th wicket. My father wanted two angles: he was down on the ground, and I was upstairs to get a wider view.” And he photographed what can be called one of the best pictures in both the fields of photography and cricket.

As Randy shared, “I got the catch, the bowler running through celebrating, and the umpire with his finger up in the air signalling out. So that was one of the memorable moments in the early years.” Randy was also there to capture when Brian Lara broke his historic record in Antigua. Although having travelled to many countries over the years, meeting with different people and sitting among different crowds, Randy says there is something different about Guyana.

The Guyanese people, he says, seem to be naturally happy and welcoming, but our cricket crowd, he stated, was the best thing about Guyanese cricket. “I remember being here in Guyana at Bourda and the amount of spectators here. The crowd, I love the crowd. The action here at Bourda was electrifying. The people are just electrifying.”

Outside the Field
Every field of work has its difficulties and times that are less than ideal. In photography and photojournalism, Randy believes the issues lay outside the field. “The issues are off the field. You know a match is going to be played at the stadium, and the journalists are normally there working the day before the match. Most of the time, up to now, there are no chairs in the media centre. And I’m not talking about one particular place. It is all over the Caribbean,” he said. This along with a string of other problems faced by photojournalists like himself, is something Randy feels very passionate about. He urges people such as the various ministers of the Caribbean to take action.

While he continues to travel and champion for better conditions for photographers, Randy says that his future endeavours are too simple to go forward. “I want to continue to do this until I retire and to continue to provide for my family. And get back on track after COVID,” he said. “And of course, I hope West Indies will be more victorious.” When asked what he thinks is needed for the “Windes” cricket team, he stated that a change in governance is necessary to see a change on the field.

In his closing remarks to the Pepperpot Magazine, Randy urged Caribbean people and Guyanese alike to think as one and not let misconceptions be a divider, as he said. “A lot of us in the Caribbean get misconceptions. I tell everybody to travel to the country and experience for yourself, and then you can judge.”