How Olympic Photos Got Weird (And Why That Matters)

A short-track speed skater glides across the ice like a phantom, their form rendered in otherworldly hues by an infrared camera. This isn't your typical Olympic action shot—it's art masquerading as sports journalism, and it's everywhere at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.

Getty Images photographers have turned the games into a visual laboratory, experimenting with everything from infrared filters to vintage cameras adapted with smartphones. The results are haunting, beautiful, and completely unlike anything we've seen from previous Olympics.

When Sports Photography Becomes Art

The images emerging from these games tell a different story than the crisp, documentary-style shots we're used to. Hector Vivas captured Austrian skier Stefan Babinsky in an infrared photograph that makes him look like he's skiing through a dream. Ryan Pierse used the same technique to transform Chinese biathlete Yuanmeng Chu into an almost spectral figure against the snow.

Digital composites are creating impossible perspectives—entire snowboard halfpipe runs compressed into single frames, showing the full arc of athletic motion in ways the human eye never could. Even more intriguingly, some photographers are using 70-year-oldGraflex cameras modified to work with modern smartphones, creating a bridge between the 1956 Cortina Olympics and today.

The Technology Behind the Magic

This isn't just artistic experimentation—it's enabled by a perfect storm of technological advancement. High-sensitivity sensors make infrared photography viable in challenging lighting conditions. Real-time digital processing allows photographers to see and adjust their artistic effects on the spot. Drone technology provides perspectives that were literally impossible just a decade ago.

The business case is clear too. In an era where social media feeds are flooded with sports content, news organizations need images that stop the scroll. A standard action shot might capture the moment, but an infrared-filtered skeleton run or a digitally-composited ski jump captures the imagination.

The Purists Push Back

Not everyone's buying into the artistic revolution. Traditional sports photography has always prized accuracy over artistry—the decisive moment, captured cleanly, telling the story without embellishment. Some veteran photographers worry that heavy digital manipulation undermines the documentary value of sports imagery.

"When you start filtering reality, where do you draw the line?" asks one Associated Press veteran who preferred not to be named. "Are we documenting the Olympics or creating a fantasy version of them?"

The debate echoes larger conversations happening across media about authenticity in the digital age. If a photo can be infinitely manipulated, what makes it "real"? And does it matter, as long as it captures the emotional truth of athletic performance?

A Generational Divide

Younger audiences seem less concerned with these philosophical questions. For Gen Z viewers, who've grown up with Instagram filters and TikTok effects, artistic interpretation feels natural. They're more likely to share and engage with visually striking content, regardless of how "pure" it is photographically.

This shift has implications beyond sports media. News organizations are grappling with how to maintain credibility while meeting audience expectations for visually compelling content. The Olympics, with their built-in drama and global audience, provide a perfect testing ground for these new approaches.