VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 11. BRENT Hayden has found an enriching life after retiring from swimming, and he talked about his photography aspirations today on the Canadian television show “Breakfast Television.”
Hayden, who won the bronze medal in the 100 freestyle at the London Olympics, said retiring immediately after London was even a surprise to himself. “I didn’t really plan on announcing it,” he said in the interview with host Jody Vance. “I was going to give myself time to really think about it and come to a well-thought out decision, but being onstage at the Canada House for my medal presentation to the Canadian crowd … it became an emotional decision and it felt right.”
The bulk of the interview was devoted to Hayden’s new career as a photographer, which he had started during his training for the London Olympics as an assistant on a friend’s photo shoot. Now, he is gearing up for an exhibition of his own photos opening today at the Foot of Main Gallery in Vancouver.
Hayden calls himself a minimalist photographer because “I don’t like the clutter of normal landscape,” and during the interview a few of his photographs that illustrate that are shown. Photographs of his niece and brother-in-law wearing gas masks are part of a series of photos that are “nice-looking portraits with this dark subject matter. No matter where we are in life, there’s always a sense of impending doom.”
Click here to watch the “Breakfast Television” interview.