STORY BY WILL BJARNAR
ILLUSTRATION BY GEORGIA REIDY
Gabby Ricciardi spends nearly every other Sunday in the fall trotting the sidelines of MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey — tugging a giant DSLR camera on her hip.
There's a swagger in her walk, and her magnetic attitude is contagious. Her job as a photographer with the New York Jets would’ve never been possible if it weren’t for an Instagram DM to Jets photographer Dan Szapowski, an otherwise impersonal mode of communication that only Gabby could turn personal.
“I really think the main reason why it’s such a special story is the way it happened,” she said, sitting cross-legged, repping one of her many employers by sporting a Marist Football hoodie. It’s intriguing to listen to — not only because it’s an intriguing story, but because Gabby has that way about her.However, Gabby is a communications major, not a photography major. “Sports has been my whole life,” she said. Growing up playing “every single sport in the book” made sports communications an easy major to decide on. “I never knew exactly what I wanted to do here, but I knew… I [wanted] to make it special.” It’s since become quite special. She’s currently serving as the head photographer for the Marist Football team, and a game day photographer for the Jets and the New York Mets.
Despite her array of photography jobs, before September of her junior year, Gabby had never picked up a camera. “I took stuff on my iPhone in portrait mode,” she said. “I never had one professional ounce of information.” She only took up an interest in the craft when she was getting her photo taken for student government — she was the Student Vice President for Athletic Affairs — and saw the photographer’s bag filled with equipment. By merely observing his bag, she was interested.
When he asked her if she was a photography major, Gabby replied, “No, not at all.” But she was willing to try, especially after he recommended that she give it a try. “That night, I literally went on sears.com and bought a $750 camera,” she said, despite having no idea how to use it.
One day while studying YouTube tutorials on photography, she was scrolling through Instagram and found a post of warm-up photos on the Jets account — her favorite football team, though she was once a Giants fan. She was keen to take pictures like these at this point — having taken some of her own — and was immediately interested in connecting with the photographer, Dan Szpakowski. She shot him a DM. She had “nothing to lose, like that’s just my personality.”
Two weeks later, he answered. “If you have a resume and a portfolio, send it over to me,” he replied. Her portfolio just had photos from her iPhone days, so she added that disclaimer in case it came up. It did; he started out the same way.
Soon enough, she was offered an internship: She would attend NY Jets practices while still learning the basics. “I was using $8,000 lenses and $10,000 cameras. But I had no idea what I was doing,” she said. “I had to figure it out, I can’t mess up with [Jets’ safety] Jamal Adams right in front of me.’” The adjustment was just as swift as her conversion from iPhones to Nikons.
Gameday is a bit more hectic. She arrives at 9 a.m. Immediately, it’s off to pre-production. Maybe she photographs a promotional bobblehead for Instagram. Companies pay for ads throughout Metlife Stadium, so perhaps photos of the promos are needed. The locker room is next; players at their lockers, wearing Beats, dapping up teammates. Then warm-ups. Players always want pictures from warmups. Then comes game time: sideline shots, action shots, celebrations, flyovers. Finally, post-game. By the end of the day, she’s probably taken 4,000 pictures.
So it’s a bit of a surprise that coming into her junior year, Gabby merely had fragments of a plan. That same semester she was in a helicopter ahead of the Jets’ Monday Night Football matchup with the Browns taking aerial photos. “I came in with [questions] and [they] got answered within two months… so crazy.”
It might be unfair to say Gabby’s journey started with a DM; frankly, it started with her being herself. She treats people with an equal amount of respect regardless of their station or position; “you’re just a person,” she said. “We put these athletes up to be like superheroes and that they’re on a pedestal… You’re playing football, I’m taking pictures, we’re both winning.” She has been able to foster relationships with players because of this approach. She was a guest at linebacker Brandon Copeland’s baby shower.
“Gabby has become family,” Copeland said. “She is more than just our photographer, she is a storyteller [and] author in her own right and has a passion for using her lens to paint people in the best way possible.”
All because of a DM, all because of how she treats people, and all because she found what she loved.
“Ability is what you’re capable of doing, motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it,” Gabby said, reflecting on her past and looking toward her future.
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