[Read my interview with UNSEEN here]

https://unseenamsterdam.com/when-records-melt-2-christopher-parsons

Lee runs fast, very fast, 100m in 10 and a half seconds fast

He also trains hard, very hard, box jumps, skipping, hurdles, track sessions, squats, weights, calisthenics, sprint training and just about any other exercise you can think of, twice and thrice a day everyday. If he is not training he most likely be eating or sleeping.

Lee was kind enough to let me into a couple of training sessions at his local athletics club in Croydon

"I am going to make Wayne Gretzky's head bleed for super fan no 99 over here..."

I fell in love with ice hockey at a young age, growing up watching "The Mighty Ducks" and playing NHL 94 on my sega mega drive. Still now I have a love for the fast paced, action packed, violent sport!

In the summer I made a trip to France to photograph some of this aggressive puck chasing on ice...

Inspired by the works of Stephen Shore, Jack Kerouac, Walker Evans and watching cowboy films with my mother as a kid, America has always fascinated me. This is my visual diary of multiple road trips across this vast country.

Through watching American film and TV, we almost feel familiar with a place we have never even visited. This is a rugged country, harsh, broken deserts, arid mountain ranges, towering peaks cloaked in pine and aspen, and in winter, deep snows. From west to east styles differ, people change and most of all the landscapes varies so much, but one thing thats consistent all the way from coast to coast no matter what stands in its way - the road, it’s the road that allows us to discover adventure and chase our own American dream!

In the past 10 years I have made various road trips across states, from Portland to San Francisco, via Yosemite and Death Valley, across the Mid-West from LA to Gallup, across New Mexico down into Texas, up to Vegas and onto Utah National Park, from Chicago to the Boundary waters of Minnesota…..there is still so much more to see of this epic country, this is very much still a work in progress….

“If you ever plan to motor west: Travel my way. Take the highway that’s the best. Get your kicks on Route 66! It winds from Chicago to L.A. More than 2000 miles all the way…”

"I wish I was a little bit taller
I wish I was a baller
I wish I had a girl who looked good, I would call her
I wish I had a rabbit in a hat with a bat
And a six four Impala"

I was invited along to the 2013 US GP at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas by Red Bull Racing to document the qualifying session from the pits. Vettel and Webber qualified on the front row of the grid and Vettel went on to win the race with his team mate Webber finishing on the podium in 3rd. These images represent what happens off the track from the pits perspective during a qualifying session.

The year ended with a successful title defence for Sebastian after winning 9 races in a row. He became Sportsman of the Year and Red Bull also won the constructors championship.

Hazel Kari Marimba is one half of the DJ/Singer girl duo 'BahiaHaze', the girls have recently hung out at 'Rinse FM', performed at Horizon festival and was selected by Gig Wise as one of the top 6 acts to see at this year's 'Meadows in the Mountains' - a bespoke true hippy fest high up in the mountains in Bulgaria!

Thorbergur Ingi Jonson, or Tobbi as he is called, was one of the big surprises in the 2015 World Trail Championships in Annecy. Running in a trail race for the first time outside of Iceland, he finished 9th, less than 6 minutes behind the eventual 2015 UTMB winner Xavier Thévenard. And in July 2015 he smashed the course record of the 55km Laugavegur Ultra in Iceland, in an improbable 3:59:13. So it‘s been quite a year for the reluctant trail runner Tobbi.

Part of a collaborative project shot recently with IDEA London, moving image piece coming soon...

Inspired by the works of Stephen Shore, Jack Kerouac, Walker Evans and watching cowboy films with my mother as a kid, America has always fascinated me. This is my visual diary of multiple road trips across this vast country.

“If you ever plan to motor west: Travel my way. Take the highway that’s the best. Get your kicks on Route 66! It winds from Chicago to L.A. More than 2000 miles all the way…”

For the past 3 months I have been allowed to be a fly on the wall for Seb's hardcore 6 day a week training programme. I have been documenting his sessions with both his coach, training buddy, on the track, in the gym and out on the hills.
 

I was commissioned to photograph former GB tennis pro Jade Windley to launch the new 'Adidas by Stella McCartney' collection in collaboration with SportsStylist. It was a warm summer's day at a court in Holland Park, West London, during the build up to Wimbledon.

For two weeks every summer London goes tennis mad, the city is buzzing with excitement at SW19, blurs of white, strawberries and champagne, and despite the inevitable spells of drizzle, droves of tennis mad fans necks are warmed up and ready to look left to right to left to right to left...FAULT THIRTY LOVE

Eddie needs no introduction, a world famous stand-up comedian, actor, writer, activist, transvestite and possible future London Mayor. 

In 2009 he completed 43 marathons in 51 days for Sport Relief, running more than 1,100 miles in 7 weeks. Izzard trained only 5 weeks prior and had no previous history of long-distance running, a remarkable feat to say the least.

I was asked to photograph Mr Izzard for The JoinIn Trust, it was an honour to meet such a humbling, inspiring and hilarious individual.

Bemidji is a city in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. Surrounded by three indian reservations and many lakes with the Northernmost lake feeding the Mississippi River.  It's deemed the Curling Capital of the US and home to an oversized Paul Bunyan statue.

After a long flight and little sleep my Father decided the best way to see Bemidji would be to run round it early morning. Despite the jet lag I followed him with my camera...

Beep Tests, Burpees, Skipping, Stretching, BPM, BMI, Sprint training, HIIT, Boulders, Cheap Reps, Cardio Bunny, Cutting Up, DOMS, Gains, Vascular, Reps, Sets, Cicuits, Pecs, Lats, Traps, Quads, Hams, Crossfit, Gym Rat, Spin Head, Weekend Warrior, Dips, Deadlift, Clean and Jerk.....

The list goes on, new words, new training methods...When I was young it was seriously uncool to wear running trainers, I remember being embarrassed at my old man wearing his 1990 Mizuno trainers on family days out - fast forward quarter of a century and its now bang on trend - who knew my father was cool before his time! 

Now everyone has their own personal goals to live a healthier more fulfilled and clean life - just don't ask 'them' why and never admit that you dont actually like the taste of kale and spinach in a smoothie. Honestly it's a positive change to the 90's when it was cool to smoke Marlboro Red's and wear as much Denim as possible

The Health Club and Spa at Chelsea FC, Stamford Bridge commissioned me to create all its new imagery in conjunction with launching their new club sponsor Nike. We shot in the club with Crystal and Jack from W Models along with some of the centres PT's and staff.

The Health Club and Spa at Chelsea FC, Stamford Bridge commissioned me to create all its new imagery in conjunction with launching their new club sponsor Nike.

The Chelsea Health Club & Spa features one of the best swimming pools in a private health club in London. The pool is 25m long and 10m wide, it is ozone-treated and maintained at a constant temperature of 29°c.

Along with a super clean pool they have their own SWIMTAG, more than just a lap counter, SWIMTAG is a motivational tool, encouraging you to reach your goals. With each use, you have the ability to view accurate data online, allowing you to tweak your technique and work on any weaknesses in your stroke. 

Eleanor ‘Ellie’ Simmonds OBE is a Five-time Paralympic Champion and currently has numerous World records to her name. Ellie shot to fame when she won her first Paralympic medal at the age of 13 years and nine months. This was the start of a string of firsts for Ellie as she went on to become the youngest winner of the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year in 2008 and then the youngest recipient of an MBE at the age of 14.

Rampage is an invite only free ride mountain bike event held in Zion National Park, Virgin Utah. It first began in 2001-04 until it was cancelled due to the increasing risk competitors were taking. After a three year hiatus, Rampage returned in 2008 and this years will mark the 12th edition of this insane event.

Riders turn up with a 2-person build crew and are welcome to the event site for three days of strictly building and then four additional days with their bikes in advance to carve out their lines in preparation for one of the biggest tests of skill, nerve and guts in the world.

I was invited along in 2010 to document the event for RedBull, my initial impression of Rampage is its not just any competition, these guys are like a brotherhood! Although they are competing, they build together, party together and ride together….huge respect to the guys riding the ridge at rampage!

John Wilton-Davies a business consultant from the south-west of England plans to complete 'The Last Great Challenge', an attempt to be the first to complete an unsupported return journey from the edge of Antartica to the South Pole and back again!

I photographed John at a studio in Devon and built a South Pole inspired set from old paper backdrops. We spent the afternoon taking pictures and John told me all about his previous attempt and plan for the next expedition, an inspiring individual to say the least!

Realise Creative approached me to direct a super slow motion piece for one of their clients U+I developments - 'Future Works' - Future Works is a new development and their logo is an Egg Timer, the idea was to get a high quality slow motion shot of the egg timer smashing at a 45' angle...

We had over 20 glass egg timers made with the FW logo emblazoned on them and filled with black sand, we then spent a day in the studio making a mess smashing, hammering, dropping and even shot at them with an air pistol to try and 'get the shot'

Working with the very talented D.O.P Louis Mackay we shot both stills and moving image using a RED Epic Weapon 4k at super high frame rates to capture the high speed action.

In 2010 my 7 month old niece Cara Rose was diagnosed with a terminal disease named Type 1 Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), this tore my sister and her family apart, their resilience despite the situation has inspired me ever since.

Whilst Cara was still with us we spent a weekend in the summer of 2010 running up the three highest mountains in Scotland, England and Wales. Led by my brother-in-law (Cara's father) and his fellow Royal Marine friend our team of 9 lads along with our token female driver completed the Three Peaks Challenge in under 24hours.

Despite having a vehicle that was resticted to 55mph, with thanks to Lindsay's rally'esque driving we finished at 5am Sunday morning after climbing Snowden through the night and had enough time to recover with a pint ready for work again on Monday morning - a great way to spend a weekend raising money for a very worthy SMA charity and more importatnly awareness about this truly horrific disease.

Xavier Thévenard

In the summer of 2013 I spent some time in the French Alps, based in Morzine I was only a couple of hours round to Mt Blanc so after speaking with Asics I decided to make my way over to Chamonix to catch the finish of the UTMB (Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc)

Les Lindarets is a hamlet high up in the Alps en route to Avoriaz, its more commonly known as "Goat Village" as a herd of over forty goats live there in freedom over the summer months. In the summer of 2013 I shot this story for Asics.

Boxing 's reputation isn't great, violence, blood and broken noses - yet some say its not as black and blue as its usually painted. Calculated risk, conditioning, co-ordination along with instinct play a big part in each bout. Some will view it as a disgusting sight to see two grown men go blow to blow however others view it in the same way as a well choreographed dance, between two athletes at they're peak of fitness moving gracefully around the ring trying to outsmart each other.

This is my study into the sport, I was kindly allowed to document some of the IBC's (Islington Boxing Club) amateur fight nights at the Tufnell Park Dome.

For 40 years his commentary has brought the drama and emotions of the Tour de France to millions of viewers around the World. Phil Liggett is the voice of Cycling, he was the technical director of the Milk Race for over 20years and in 2005 he was awarded an MBE for his services to cycling.

I photographed Phil Liggett at his home in Hertfordshire for Cyclist Magazine. He told us about his life behind the microphone, the races he'll never forget and his phlegmatic views on Lance Armstrong. We followed Phil on his usual ride round the lanes, shooting from the car.

A story I shot in East London for an independent fashion brand who wanted a skateboard-esque look for their new A/W range

Part of a collaborative project shot recently with IDEA London, moving image piece coming soon...

The UK's first SwimRun event (albeit in a very unofficial and informal sense) I was asked to join in and bring along my camera, it was a great way to spend a Saturday morning in November, running a half marathon with my SLR and a couple of swims in between!

Inspired by the John Cheever short story and Burt Lancaster film, The Swimmer is a relaxed half-marathon journey through London’s finest outdoor pools, parks and ponds.

Starting in Hampstead we ran across the heath to the natural Highgate ponds, then onto Parliament Hill Lido, running then south towards the Serpentine for our 3rd dip via Primrose Hill and Regents Park. From here onwards some people chose to turn it into a triathlon and got some Boris Bikes out to get down to South London while the rest of us ran via Battersea Park, Clapham Common and onto Brockwell Park for our final swim in Brockwell Lido.

The Swimmer London takes place the second Saturday of every month from Autumn to Spring even when the temperature in the pools drop into single figures. It really is the most social and friendly running event in London, nobody cares for times or trying to outperform anyone and you wont be judged if you want to skip a swim or jump on a bike for part of it.

<a href=" ">http://www.theswimmer.org/</a>

Huron were an English thrash metal band formed in Plymouth in 2007, the band had a cult following and were highly regarded for their live performance's. Before they went on an indefinite hiatus Huron played one last kick-ass gig headlining Download Festival's boardie takeover stage. I was invited along by the band to document the biggest gig of their career...

It was 9pm on a mid summers eve and Huron were about to walk out to a completely packed out tent to headline the night...I followed them onto the stage to capture the performance shooting on my old mans 1979 Nikon, there is nothing quite like shooting fast paced loud and heavy music in a sweaty tent in the height of summer!

Some guns, a BBQ, a load of beer and meat, archery, some smoke grenades, a couple of axe's, a discovery and a defender along with 12 men in an off grid welsh bothy half way up Mt Snowdon are the ingredients for a very dirty boyish weekend...

In 2011 the first ever Red Bull Harbour Reach event was hosted in the historic town of Lyme Regis in Dorset. This event saw Pro-Wakeboarders from around the globe descend on this sleepy quaint harbour town.

Industry Wakeparks built a bespoke cable ridden 'wakepark' especially designed for the harbour which will see the riders clearing the Grade 1 listed harbour wall aka 'The Cobb' whilst performing tricks on a number of custom built features, including the first Quarter Pipe ever to be seen in UK competition.