Recap: Crankworx Deep Summer Photo Challenge 2024

Nestled in the shadows of alpine peaks at the Olympic Plaza in Whistler Village, we all gathered to take in the incredible visual storytelling from six photographers who took on the three-day epic to capture the people, culture, and activity that drew us all to the area to play on our bikes. The breathtaking Sḵwiḵw region (belonging to the Sk̲wx̲wúmesh and L̓il̓watú peoples) brings the masses together each year to appreciate the mountains under the July sun for eleven days filled with bikes and buddies. The Deep Summer Photo Challenge is structured to highlight the beauty of the area through the perspective of photographers from all over the world.

Opening the evening, we heard Redmond Andrews from the Lil’wat Nation perform a welcoming ceremony to honor the ground we all gathered upon before we were introduced to the artists participating in this year's Deep Summer Challenge.

2024 Deep Summer Contestants and Slideshows

• Hannah Childress
• Joel Ducrot
• Joe Wakefield
• Júlio Campos
• Benjamin Braun
• Michael Pecsi

Six photographers were given three days to capture, edit, and present a sideshow to a crowd of onlookers in the Olympic Plaza before being critiqued by a panel of judges on storytelling, composition, community integration, and creativity. Under a cloudy sky, the lawn in front of the stage was packed with friends and families, huddled together to appreciate the hard work put into celebrating the Sḵwx̱wúʔmesh region. Mountain bikers, small children, dogs, and people who just happened to book a vacation to Whistler on this engaging week composed the onlookers and contributed to the applause after each presentation.

After careful consideration and deliberation by the panel of judges (Erin Hogue, Eliot Jackson, Rob Perry, Tom Richards, and Heather Young), Joel Ducrot was awarded the $5,000 CAD purse and coverage at one of the biggest cycling events in North America.

More about Joel in his own words:

“ Born and raised in Switzerland, I learned to ride a bike pretty quickly after learning how to walk. Since then, mountain biking has been a common thread throughout my life. Taking on a multitude of shapes and forms, it became the main catalyst for what’s to come. It led me to picking up a camera at the age of 14 to document my friends and myself riding—initiating a way to be more intentional about my creative expression on both sides of the lens.

My work’s goal is to showcase subject, context and movement from perspectives that get as close as possible to the feeling of the experience — and to evolve new ways of interacting with different environments. ”