Gary Harris (14) of the Denver Nuggets before the first quarter of game one of the teamsÕ second round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Pepsi Center in Denver on Monday, April 29, 2019.
In 2019, I concentrated on portraiture and sports photography. With so many negative things happening in the world, I enjoy bringing fun into the mix. Sports is an easy outlet. Maybe a team loses, but the idea that so many people can focus their attention on a team or back their city, school and state is remarkable. The chaos, the emotion, the colors and flow draw me in and the details beyond the field of play keep me looking and searching for something unique and wonderful.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Regis Jesuit players celebrate after claiming their second straight prep hockey state championship with a 5-2 win over Dakota Ridge at the Pepsi Center in Denver on March 4, 2019. The Raiders finished the season 22-1. It is the school’s sixth state hockey championship.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Ben Kirschner of Golden celebrates with his missing tooth smile after the second half of Golden’s 10-9 win over Cheyenne Mountain in the Class 4A lacrosse state title game at All-City Stadium in Denver on May 20, 2019.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Colorado Eagles Kevin Davis sports a classic hockey tooth gap during practice in Loveland on Feb. 6, 2019. Davis said that he has been playing with the gap for nearly three years since losing it as a teenager. The Colorado Eagles are the American Hockey League affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Yonatan “Yoni” Kefle, 21, runs on a treadmill during an indoor practice because of snow in Denver on Oct. 30, 2019. Kefle, along with his family, fled Eritrea when he was a teenager. As a student at Denver South High School, he joined the cross country team and quickly realized he had a talent for running. He is now a freshman at Metropolitan State University of Denver and has become one of the team’s top runners this season.
Portraiture lacks the inherent intensity and chaos of sports. It is a great avenue for telling a story when action is not apparent or has taken place days, months, years and even decades before as was the case with Wyoming’s Black 14. Capturing the mood, essence and being of a person is something I strive for. Using light to bring focus into their eyes is an intimate experience. To be trusted in a tight space, while having people move unnaturally to make them appear seemingly natural is a challenge, but worth it when their inner light shines.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
University of Wyoming Black 14 member Ivie Moore on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. “We never got a chance to protest against Brigham University before (coach Lloyd Eaton) just out lashed all of a sudden and said we could go back to the colored and negro leagues…” Before an Oct. 17, 1969, matchup with Brigham Young University, 14 black members of the University of Wyoming football team approached head coach Lloyd Eaton to ask if they could wear black arm-bands in protest of the Mormon church’s treatment of blacks. All 14 were dismissed from the team before being berated by Eaton. In September, the players finally received an official apology from the university.
AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post
Tom Mauser is the father of 1999 Columbine victim Daniel Mauser, who was shot and killed at age 15 in the library of his high school. Mauser became a leading voice on gun laws after the event. He said of son, “Daniel would be 35 now. We think he would have gone into something like medical research. … but frankly, I try not to think too much what Daniel would be doing, what he would be like. I pretty much focus on what his life was like for those first 15 years because it’s just too damn difficult to look at what things might be like if he was alive.” Mauser was photographed on April 10, 2019.
Colorado Army National Guard Master Sergeants Michael Landers, left, and Mitchell Landers stand in a reflection of the American flag during the inauguration of Gov.-elect Jared Polis at the state Capitol in Denver on Jan. 8, 2019.
Janie VanWinkle pulls the ties off of a bale of hay on Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2019, while working on her ranch outside Grand Junction. The ties are saved and ground up before being added back into feed for the cows.
