In preparation for my final project I wanted to look research boxing photography; how other photographers have interoperated their view on the sport and what they capture in their image. Looking at the different emotions, shots and motions that are taken participants of the sport. Different photographers and media texts have taken the sport differently. But as you may see below, the most important characters in the piece are the fighters themselves. The ring is very much the same but boxers are the people that create character into the image.
My first text in which I looked at was film stills of 1980 film ‘ The Raging Bull’. Directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, the film is about the emotional self-destruction life of boxer Jake La Motta. Being a biographical film, emotions and feelings of the characters are captured brilliantly. The protagonist of La Motta, is seen as a fighter, both in the ring and out. Creating this alpha destructive male image of De Niro. The stills below are prime examples of Scorsese showing feeling and passion of a man and his life. Each image shows a emotion by De Niro, one where you can stop and draw feelings from. Even though there is a stadium of people watching, you only focus what is going through De Niro’s mind, evacuating all the sound around him and just hearing his breathing, his panting, his exhaustion and his thoughts. These images clearly show a man of self-thought, emotion, passion and trouble. A perfect inspiration in capturing the thought and feeling of a fighter.
The opening scene of the film is a famous one. The slow pouncing steps of De Niro’s footwork jumping from the ground in a slow soft motion manner while the emotional orchestral music is played is astonishingly beautiful. You have no relationship with the character yet but the scene shows the passion and pride of this boxer. Not knowing his biography, you make your own opinion. However the scene draws you into its motion, its pride, its passion and the heart of the fighter.
The Wrestler (2009) starring Mickey Rouke isn’t necessarily about boxing, but I felt it was a film that I have drawn inspiration from in replicating alpha male emotion. Like ‘The Raging Bull’, the film is a biographical film about self-destructive fighter. Described as the wrestling ‘Raging Bull’ by many reviews. Although the film was shot in colour, I found this black and white photo of Rouke in the ring looking scared, wary and focused on the danger approaching. Whether this is physical or mentally is questionable, but this powerful character of such size looks extraordinary. The other photo below then capturing a fast motion, a picture that shows movement and just a glimpse to the natural eye, but frozen in mid air, you get to see the thought and emotion of the character at such a fast pace. The photographer has done brilliantly to capture that millisecond of time. Producing a beautiful photograph of a warrior at war.
Other films in which I have looked at for inspiration include ‘Ali’ (2004) and ‘Million Dollar Baby’ (2004). Boxing films that focus around the life of a particular character. The genre of these films mirror the genre in which I want to base my final project at and looking at the shots in which the director and photographer uses to produce text, gives me ideas and thoughts in how to portray my project. The shot of Will Smith leaning over the rope shows a confident character; but like the De Niro images, the photograph escapes the sound of the arena and draws your focus onto the expression and posture of Will Smith. The frame from ‘Million Dollar Baby’ is the one photo that is different to the rest. All the photos above it express the theme of masculinity, but this is image is a female. This is neither a stereotype nor a convention in which you link to the sport. Offering a powerful and extraordinary portrayal by the director. Does this make the audience feel different in viewing this image compared to a male boxer? Possibly. I have found that the conventional characters are these athletics males, the non conventional characters being children and women.
The image directly below the ‘MDB’ screenshot is a child replicating the pose of a boxer. Like the female, this breaks conventions in viewing the image. It raises larger questions and themes. What does this represent? Is this the future and destiny of this child? The questions and themes flood more fluently in a photo that breaks stereotypes compared to ‘expected’ boxing photos.
Moving away from films, I have looked at photographs of much older photographs. Images of boxers from the early 1900s up until the 60s. An age where black and white photography wasn’t a choice or an option, it was the only format to shoot in. Where today boxing photos are largely edited to black and white, these photos were black and white originals. So why is black and white photography associated and conveyed to boxing? From what I have looked at these earlier photographs of boxers such as La Motta, Williams and Ali, they seem to make the emotion and posture of the boxer clearer and focused. Colour photography in boxing replicates the atmosphere and the epicness of the sport compared to these black and white images. They capture the mind and expression of the boxer, escaping the character from the world around them and drawing your focus to the emotions.
Daniel Booker, Lens Media 