It’s just the plight of the sports photographer that their work is often overshadowed by their subjects. No matter how brilliant and breathtaking the image—a pro basketball player about to dunk the ball, a famous football player enjoying his fandom, an iconic boxer sizing up his competition—it’s usually appreciated for the athlete’s achievement, not the photographer’s.
At least, that was the case, until curator Gail Buckland‘s exhibition “Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present.” In her show, on view at the Brooklyn Museum in New York through January 8, sports photographers are the stars.
“‘Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present’ is one of the first museum exhibitions to put sports photographers in the forefront and is the most comprehensive presentation of sports photography ever organized,” according to the museum. “It encompasses approximately 230 works—from daguerreotypes and salted paper prints to digital images—that capture the universal appeal of sports, highlighting unforgettable moments of drama and excitement from around the globe.”
We’re beyond proud to note that our own Walter Iooss is one of the artists represented in the exhibition, and one of his photographs was used as the cover for the accompanying coffee-table book. Also on view in “Who Shot Sports” is work by Richard Avedon, Al Bello, David Burnett, Rich Clarkson, Georges Demeny, Dr. Harold Edgerton, Rineke Dijkstra, Brian Finke, Toni Frissell, Ken Geiger, LeRoy Grannis, David Guttenfelder, Ernst Haas, Charles “Teenie” Harris, Heinz Kleutmeier, Stanley Kubrick, Jacques Henri Lartigue, Neil Leifer, Étienne-Jules Marey, Bob Martin, Martin Munkacsi, Edward Muybridge, Catherine Opie, Leni Riefenstahl, Robert Riger, Alexander Rodchenko, Howard Schatz, Flip Schulke, George Silk, Barton Silverman, and Andy Warhol.
“Today, it is the photographers who give sports its indelible image,” says Buckland. “Seeing athletic greatness, we both recognize our personal physical limitations and delight in bodies and minds taken to new heights. To play and to watch sports is to be in the moment. Still photographers are masters of moments.”
Learn more about the show here.
One of Walter Iooss’ iconic photos is featured on the cover of “Who Shot Sports: A Photographic History, 1843 to the Present.”
