Chennai resident Seshadri Sukumar is covering the 20th Asian Games in Japan at the age of 71, a milestone that underscores both personal reinvention and the widening possibilities of modern sports journalism. After spending years in the banking sector, Sukumar made a decisive mid-life shift into sports photography, leaving behind a stable and familiar professional path to pursue the uncertainty of the field. The result has been a second career defined by movement, endurance and a close-up view of some of the world's most significant sporting stages.
Late-Career Reinvention
Sukumar's story stands out because it runs against the usual arc of professional life. In an industry that often prizes youth, speed and constant travel, he entered sports photography after a full banking career, choosing to begin again when many people are preparing to slow down. That decision has become central to his identity as a photographer. Rather than treating age as a limitation, he appears to have used it as a source of discipline and perspective, bringing the patience of a seasoned professional to a field that demands split-second timing.
His journey also reflects a broader truth about contemporary media work: expertise is not always linear. A person can arrive late to a craft and still develop the instincts required to succeed. In Sukumar's case, the transition from banking to photography suggests a deliberate rejection of comfort in favour of purpose. It is a reminder that professional reinvention, while risky, can open doors to experiences that a conventional career path may never offer.
Chasing Sporting Moments
Covering top-tier international sports events is not simply a matter of being present with a camera. It requires anticipation, technical precision and the ability to read the emotional and tactical flow of competition. Sukumar's presence at the Asian Games places him inside one of the most demanding environments in sports media, where photographers compete to freeze decisive moments that may last only a fraction of a second.
The appeal of this work lies in its immediacy. A single frame can capture victory, disappointment, strain or triumph, and those images often travel farther than the event itself. For a photographer like Sukumar, the task is not only to document sport but to interpret it visually for audiences who may never be in the stadium. That makes his work part reportage, part art and part historical record.
His age adds another layer to the story, but not in a sentimental sense. What matters is that he is still operating at a level that places him among the working press at a major international competition. In doing so, he challenges assumptions about who gets to participate in high-pressure global sports coverage and when such a career must begin.
What His Story Signals
Sukumar's career shift carries significance beyond individual inspiration. It speaks to the growing permeability of professional boundaries in India, where second careers are becoming more visible and where passion-driven work is increasingly seen as legitimate even after decades in another field. For younger professionals, his path may appear unusual; for older ones, it may seem quietly radical. In either case, it broadens the definition of success.
There is also a symbolic dimension to his presence at the Asian Games. India's sports ecosystem has long depended on a mix of seasoned journalists, independent photographers and dedicated freelancers who travel far from home to capture the country's sporting narrative. Sukumar belongs to that tradition, but with a distinctive personal twist: he arrived in the profession after a long first career, not before it.
At 71, he is not merely attending a major sports event. He is actively shaping how such events are seen, one image at a time. In an age when visual storytelling drives public memory, that is no small contribution. His work in Japan is a testament to persistence, reinvention and the enduring power of a well-timed photograph.