Ligon was the first recipient of the internship, established by the Amazin’ Mets Foundation in memory of the late Marc Levine, an SVA alumnus and the Mets’ longtime chief photographer.
This past spring, the School of Visual Arts announced the Marc Levine Mets Photography Internship, a summer internship with the New York Mets supported by a grant from the Amazin’ Mets Foundation and established in honor of the late Marc Levine (BFA 1980 Photography), the team’s chief photographer for 35 years. Arranged in collaboration with the Visual Arts Foundation, the nonprofit that administers and manages some of the College’s scholarship funds, the 10-week internship will be available each year to a junior or senior in the BFA Photography and Video program, who will also receive a new high-end camera body and lenses to keep.
Kobe Ligon, who started her senior year in SVA’s BFA Photography and Video program earlier this month, was the internship’s first recipient. From June through early August, Ligon worked with the Mets organization, learning the ropes of professional sports photography and the fast-paced, collaborative work of real-time event coverage. She recently answered some questions about—and shared work from—her summer at Citi Field, the Mets’ home stadium in Flushing, Queens.
New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor.
Can you talk a bit about your background, and in particular your relationship with sports?
I grew up in Las Vegas—my stepdad is in the military—so I was a Dodgers fan for most of my life. We’re a family of sports fans—my mom literally named me after Kobe Bryant. It was basketball, baseball, football, always in our house.
What about sports photography? Had you done much of that prior to the internship?
I photographed some games for fun when I was younger. I was always too shy to photograph people outside of family and friends, but SVA helped me grow out of that shell.
Wrestling has always been a huge part of my life, and I love to go to independent wrestling events in Staten Island and Brooklyn. They’ll set up a ring in an arcade or a music venue and hold matches. I started photographing those, and those were the photographs that I submitted when I applied for the internship.
Game day at Citi Field.
Who did you work with at the Mets? What were your day-to-day responsibilities?
I was working with Jake Smith, executive producer of creative content; Jessica Ciminelli and Liz Flynn, the team photographers; and another photo intern, Catherine Scarantino. It was cool, because I was the only person coming from an art school. Everyone else was coming from more of a sports and journalism background.
If it was a day with, like, a 7:00pm home game, I would get there at 3:00 or 4:00pm. First I’d upload all of my photos from the day before onto the drive and organize them. Then I’d get my assignment for the day.
Every homestand, I’d go onto the field before the game to take group photos of select fans, like people who were there for an event or special occasion, on the warning track. It was always so funny to see how excited people would get about wanting to touch the grass.
The Mets honor a veteran during every home game, so sometimes I’d photograph that ceremony. I’d photograph the Queens Crew—the Mets’ dance team. Sometimes they would just say, “Go around the park and photograph whatever you’d like,” and I would get pictures of the stadium and the atmosphere. And some days I would shoot the game with the two main photographers.
Shooting warmups and batting practice was a fun challenge, too, because you want to give the players space to do what they need to do and not get in their way, while also making sure you’re getting the images you need.
New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso.
What’s it like to photograph a major-league baseball game?
The first time I did it, I was, like, “Wow, this is really hard.” You’re following the game and trying to be ready for certain moments, but you also want to try to capture those smaller, quieter moments that happen amidst all the noise and excitement.
Aside from the game play, you’ve got other things you still need to photograph, like the personal messages on the scoreboard when someone’s being honored or that wish someone a happy birthday. The team tries to give all of those people a photo of their message on the board.
I also had to have my phone with me, so that I was able to send photos to the social-media group chat that they would be able to upload right to the Mets’ social-media pages. It was nice, as an intern, to be included in that part of the process. It taught me a lot about being part of a team and learning what photos would be great for social media and for the organization.
New York Mets fans at Citi Field.
Do you have any favorite photographs that you took during the games?
I got a photo of Francisco Lindor—he’d just gotten to first base and he’s celebrating, kind of pumping his fist. And in the background it’s kind of blurry, but you can see the Puerto Rican flag. [Lindor, the Mets’ All-Star shortstop, is Puerto Rican.]
I took a photo of [Mets players] Juan Soto, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo in the outfield, and got them perfectly lined up with the mow lines on the grass.
Another favorite photo is from a fireworks night, which happened on nearly every Friday of a homestand during the summer. After doing my assignment to photograph the fireworks I wanted to experiment with it, and I was able to capture that photo.
New York Mets outfielders Juan Soto, Jeff McNeil, and Brandon Nimmo.
Did this experience have any influence on what you might want to pursue, career-wise, after graduating?
I definitely want to pursue documentary photography. I love photographing what people do—any type of sport, any type of entertainment, anything that’s someone’s profession and what they love to do.
I think that when you’re in school you can get so caught up in making your own art and doing your own thing, which is great. But it was so nice to be able to have my work be part of a larger effort, to be able to take care of these assignments and contribute.
This was the first time I’d worked as a “professional” photographer, and it was like an out-of- body experience. The Mets people are some of the best people I’ve ever met, just the sweetest people ever. I got to be friendly with some of the security staff and they were hilarious, like your favorite uncles. Working with the entire Mets photo team—Liz, Jessica, Catherine, and also David Kloepfer and Kim Pugliese—was the best part of the internship. They made it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I just love all of those guys and I’ll be forever grateful that I got to know them. I had an amazing summer.
To see more of Ligon’s work, visit kobeligon.myportfolio.com or @thelifeofcitizen.
This conversation has been condensed and edited.
