Getty Images Photographers Use Thermal Cameras for Poetic 2026 Winter Olympics Art
While most photographers at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina are relying on traditional cameras to freeze motion, a creative trio from Getty Images is pursuing a far more unexpected approach: capturing heat. Pauline Ballet, Ryan Pierse, and Héctor Vivas are equipped with compact thermal-imaging cameras, typically used for scientific or industrial purposes, to craft eerie and poetic pictures of athletes on the slopes of Cortina and in the rinks of Milan.
Revealing the Invisible Through Thermal Art
The resulting images render Olympians' bodies as spectral yellows and reds, while the surrounding ice and snow appears in shades of cyan or indigo. This unique visual language transforms athletic performance into an artistic exploration of temperature and energy.
"As visual artists, we're drawn to photography as a form of art that allows us to be expressive, creative and experimental," explains Ballet. "Thermal cameras capture the infrared radiation emitted by bodies, thereby revealing heat, muscular effort and the thermal exchanges between the athlete and the environment in which they perform. It's both a documentary tool and a poetic medium."
Technical Challenges and Creative Solutions
Each camera features dual lenses—one thermal and one photographic—enabling operators to produce a curious foreshadowing effect when images are combined. This technique is particularly evident in luge and free-skating photographs, where the body's motion and its delayed thermal imprint create a visual dialogue between the visible and invisible.
"One can see the body in motion and its delayed thermal imprint, like a memory of the gesture," Ballet notes. "It creates a visual dialogue between the visible and the invisible."
Mastering thermal imaging presents distinct challenges compared to traditional photography. "It's a bit like learning photography all over again, which is fun," says Ballet. "The main difference lies in the visual language. In classical photography we work with light, composition and fast or slow shutter speeds; in thermal imaging we work with temperature, energy dissipation, colour and the thermal traces of movement."
The photographers face several limitations that force creative adaptation:
- Inability to adjust settings like exposure speed, aperture, and focal length
- Technical constraints including a delay between shutter press and image capture
- Complete transformation of visual reference points requiring reinvented composition
Beyond Thermal: Additional Creative Experiments
The Getty Images team is also exploring other innovative projects at the Games, including:
- Infra-red photography techniques
- Vintage Graflex cameras adapted for modern use
- Digital composites blending multiple imaging methods
Vivas explains the Graflex cameras represent "paying tribute to the type of camera that would have been used 70 years ago when Cortina previously hosted the Games in 1956." However, in a modern twist, these cameras have been modified to record images on smartphones, enabling live transmission of captured content.
"It's exciting to be part of Getty's special projects team," Ballet adds. "We can't wait to share the finished set at the end of the Games."
This groundbreaking approach to Olympic photography demonstrates how technology can transform documentary coverage into artistic expression, revealing dimensions of athletic performance that remain invisible to conventional cameras.
