In the culture of almost every sport there is an inextricable link between words and images. As readers we want them both: the text outlines the story and the pictures fill in the detail. But this is the hard bit, and this is where the gap between holiday snaps and professional shots becomes fairly clear. What isn’t clear is just what makes the difference between the two. Lots of us have good cameras these days, but don’t seem to be able to come up with much better that bum shots. Even hours of getting into the right position just doesn’t seem to cut it. Is it all about the tools? Well, it isn’t. The climbing photographer’s job is to tell the story in a single image; exposure, fear, difficulty, beauty, everything!

For Tim Glasby, one of Britain’s leading climbing photographers, the perfect shot must have ‘drama, grace, and a timeless quality’. Occasionally, an iconic shot will stand out above the rest. Bernard Newman’s black and white photo of a young Steve Bancroft on the first ascent of Strapadictomy (E5 6a) at Froggatt in the Peak District is perhaps the most classic British climbing shot of the 1970s. Snapped from the side of the crag, it sums up not only the route and the era, but also the essence of movement on grit - you can feel what Steve is feeling and you know what he’s thinking. It’s all there, in one spectacular shot. Another all-time classic is the picture of Ben Moon on the first ascent of Agincourt at Buoux, one of the world’s first 8c’s, cutting loose with both feet out behind, footholds too tiny to help. He’s hanging on a mono with one hand and a two finger pocket with the other. The face tells it all as the camera peers down: this route is utterly desperate. At the time it was cutting edge, and even now the picture inspires awe.