Meet the Photographer Who’s Shot All 50 Super Bowls

Photography Tips

When he was just 15, John Biever snapped a shot of the very first touchdown at the very first Super Bowl in 1967. The photo shows some empty seats behind the player running into the end zone. It’s a great shot, but Biever didn’t stop there; he’s returned every year since, taking iconic and memorable shots of every Super Bowl thereafter:

In the video above (via PetaPixel), we hear how Biever’s father was the team photographer for the Green Bay Packers, which explains how he got so close during that first year. By Super Bowl IV, he had earned his own press credentials, and for the past three decades he’s been a staff photographer for Sports Illustrated. 

Biever’s photos show the development of not just the Super Bowl, but of photography itself. You can see the very first digital photo on the cover of SI and the shift from real grass and mud to the fake stuff used today.

Still, he laments the loss of certain talents over the past decades:

“Now, it’s all autofocus equipment. So that little talent—of being able to follow and focus the action—is gone.”

And if anyone would know, it’s him.