b'next morning, we agreed a price with a taxi driver to take us to the town that had been worst hit. There was a Turkish top flight football club there, Kocaelispor. Some of the players had lost loved ones in the disaster; and a couple of them had been injured themselves.The driver did not know how far he would be able to take us, but two months had passed since the quake and rescue work was well under way. Roads had been made passable again, but as we entered the town centre, the extent of the devastation was clear.One house, three storeys high, was leaning over at twice the angle of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You had to takeChildren play at the emergency triage centre on the Kocaelispor football ground following the zmit a second look to realise that the onlyearthquake, Ismet Paa Stadium, Turkey, August 1999.thing that was stopping it from collapsing was a brave, solitary lamppost proppingI have that picture on my wall at home. Like many of the pictures it precariously up. Many other buildings had been flattened, theirin this book, it is an example of how Marcs photography often occupants crushed inside. More than 17,000 people had died inescapes the parameters of sport, even when it is about sport. It the catastrophe. transcends the action to take in the indomitability of the human We drove on through the town, asking directions to the footballspirit; the quest for perfection and fulfilment; and reflects the stadium all the way. In the end, we found it. It was damaged. Partsbreathtaking beauty of the world around us.of it had been reduced to rubble but most of it was still standing.Thats what I love about Marcs portrait of England rugby hero Indeed, it had become one of the centres of the recovery effort. ItJonny Wilkinson in this collection. The image shows him standing was not a place for football any more but a makeshift hospital forin a swimming pool, his arms stretched out in front of him in that those who had been injured when the quake struck. rather unnatural, forced posture that he assumes as he is about to Makeshift tents covered part of the pitch and military vehiclestake a kick. It says as much about Jonny as any piece could. You were parked around the touchlines. The goalposts were still inlook at it and you see his obsession, his devotion, his commitment place and we saw some kids kicking a ball around. They were theand his restlessness, the search for perfection that gnaws at him orphans, the displaced and destitute of the disaster but for a timeand invades his existence wherever he is whether on holiday or at least, they had smiles on their faces as they chased a ball around.on the playing field.Marc joked with the lads for a while, then took some pictures.Thats what I love about the picture of that perfect rainbow arcing Before we left, these kids who had endured so much hardship andover the course at Celtic Manor during the 2010 Ryder Cup in heartbreak, posed for him in a line, grinning at the camera. south Wales. What a weekend that was! A weekend when the elements battered the golf to a standstill before delivering a blue 9'