Maria Emelianova, Chess Photographer

Maria Emelianova is a Woman Fide Master, a chess streamer, and a chess photographer. Thats what we will talk about today!

Chess photography, sounds kind of weird. When you think of photography, you’re probably thinking of your nice National Geographic nature films, or maybe you’re just thinking of photo journalism.

Maria Emelianova is one of the most well-known chess photographers in the world. She has taken some of the most iconic chess photos of our time!

She works as a photojournalist alongside chess.com reporters Peter Doggers and Mike Klein. Her photos are used regularly by chess.com in news reports. As a photographer myself, its very cool to see photos from the latest chess tournaments! Her photos are especially impressive!

How Did She Get Into Photography?

Maria said this in an interview:

“I always liked photography, so I started taking some photos here and there. Then I heard about the Chess Olympiad, which was coming to Russia for the first time in 2010. I got a very cheap camera and went to the press conference that was held in Moscow, with the governor of Ugra and then-FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Some people recognized me at the press conference and said someone who was supposed to come to Khanty-Mansiysk had dropped out of the team and asked if I wanted to join. I thought: "Yeah, sure, I already have tickets to go by train and bus!" They said: ‘’Forget about those tickets, we’re going by private jet.’’ Then I thought: "Wow, okay!"—that was the first sign that things were going the way they should.

I was taking a lot of photos there without really realizing what I was doing; taking pictures of things and players that I liked. Later on, it turned out there weren’t many journalists because of the difficulties of getting there. Not a lot of western journalists made it, and a lot of magazines were asking me to provide photos. They paid, and a lot of them paid quite well—at least that’s what I felt at the time.

I managed to get my own camera, and I never really thought about deciding to be a photographer, I just started taking photos. I was still studying in Moscow because I never thought that photography would be my main job or that it could be paid well enough. Whenever I would write to organizers they would say they didn’t really have a budget, maybe they would give me a room at the hotel or pay for my ticket in exchange for photos. So I had to really make my living by trying to sell photos, write an article, or both... it was quite difficult and stressful to justify! A lot of people were asking me: ‘’Why are you even doing this? You’re losing money!’” But I really liked chess and made it my goal to prove that this could be a viable job.

Six years later, I was at the World Championship in New York, working next to Peter Doggers and FM Mike Klein. At the time, I’d already earned a couple of recognitions as a photographer and my photos were on the cover of magazines—people knew me and I managed to get some special access at the tournament, albeit quite limited! But I managed to take some photos that nobody else could, and Mike and Peter suggested having a temporary agreement with Chess.com to have exclusive images for the articles.

That was like a turning point—those photos performed so well and I think Chess.com realized how much easier life becomes when you can actually tell the photographer what to do beforehand, and the photographer also knows the scenes and navigates their way through, and can get around some rules or get some exclusive time with the players.”

Her Favourite Photo

Maria Emelianova’s most iconic photo is this one:

GM Anton Korobov with an interesting expression on his face 😆! The face we all have when we know we’re gonna lose lol!

Maria says that this photo is her all time favourite. She said many thought it was staged, but she added, “I assure you if chess players were looking around every time someone with a telephoto lens would be aiming at them from under the table across the playing hall, they would've lost on time!”

Her Favourite Tournament, and some photos from it

Maria says her favourite chess tournament to photograph is the Candidates Tournament, because, “It is a combination of a very high-stakes tournament and also has more than two players. The organization is always at a very high level and the players are always very focused. The challenge of being able to capture some special emotions and special moments from the players is what keeps me going.”

Here are some of her photos from the 2020 Candidates Tournament

The way she captures the tension and the emotion is truly magnificent!
Outro
Maria Emelianova has a gift not many have! Her photos are lauded by many, I definitely recommend checking out some chess.com news articles with her photos, which is nearly every one lol. 
I am glad she has used her gift for good, and I hope to see photos when Ding and Nepo face off!!

Hope you liked this blog, would love some feedback in the comments below! 

Thanks again,

@FA-18_SuperHornet2007