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The AELTC Clubhouse and Players’ Entrance to Centre Court. Click to view the gallery of images.

Duncan was commissioned by NHK (Japan’s public broadcaster, equivalent of the BBC) to shoot a series of still images of Wimbledon to be featured in the opening sequence of a TV documentary about The Champions, to be screened at prime time on the Sunday before Wimbledon starts. They said:- “We would like you to go into the Clubhouse and shoot the Kipling “If” poem quotation above the Players’ Entrance and oh yes!, also a few shots of the Men’s Trophy against a black background please, clearly showing the engraved name of every Champion since 1066 (or similar)!

This was a big ask with just two days notice! The Clubhouse is hallowed ground and the trophy is stored in an environmentally-controlled cabinet for  364 days of the year.  However, the AELTC came up trumps and very kindly and enthusiastically cooperated.  They also generously allowed me the rare privilege of shooting “Champions’ Walk”, the route that every player on Centre Court has to take when leaving the dressing room to go on court.  The historical and iconical images displayed along the length of the route must be inspirational for every player.

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The Gentlemen’s Singles Trophy. Click to see the gallery of images.

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The Champions’ Walk. Click to see the gallery of images.