The Rio Olympics came to a close last night with Laura Trott, Jason Kenny, Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish among the cyclists leading an unprecedented medals haul for Team GB. Photographer David Ellis has worked with many of the stars of the Olympics and his exhibition, Gold Rush, is now showing at Accept & Proceed's space 43m3 in east London.
Ellis photographed the official London 2012 brochure and his subjects include the fastest man in living history, Usain Bolt, as well as Tom Daley, Mo Farah, Chris Froome, Laura Trott and Ben Ainslie. The images are printed on discontinued stock of gold glitter inkjet paper, with limited edition prints available to buy.
While photographing the athletes Ellis had a chance to speak with them, and discovered in their stories a common thread of overcoming adversity: from Bolt, the lanky Jamaican boy born with a curved spine, to Mo Farah, whose story started on the war-torn streets of Somalia, and Laura Trott, a young asthmatic girl born with a collapsed lung who now, aged just 24, has seven World Championship titles and four Olympic gold medals to her name.
"They are superheroes, these disciplined, mindful people who make extreme sacrifices to reach the podium," says Ellis.
"The training can't always be enjoyable. But they are all optimists who love that idea of pushing the limits of learning and being challenged, both emotionally and physically."
The exhibition runs until 5 September at Accept & Proceed, 1 Baltic Place, London N1 5AQ.
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