ART REVIEW: "Sport-Iooss and Leifer"-Annenberg Space for Photography

Anyone who knows me knows that aside from dancing ballet and the occasional watching of ice skating and being dragged to baseball games I could never be classified, however loosely, as a “sports fan”. And although I appreciate photography and enjoy recording memories of trips and events by taking photos, it is not my medium of choice. Yet I was surprised at how much I truly enjoyed the exhibit “Sport-Iooss and Leifer" at the Annenberg Space for Photography, which displayed sports photographs by two legendary sports photographers, Walter Iooss and Neil Leifer. The exhibit consisted of action shots and portraits of the athletes. The portraits I saw made me appreciate the honest and probing quality that good photography possesses. 

“Muhammad Ali Knocks out Sonny Liston” May 25, 1965 By Neil Leifer

(annenbergfoundation.org)

I stared into the faces of some of the greatest athletes to walk the earth—Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali—and somehow understood their thoughts at the moment the photo was taken, like I could read into their personalities from observing the light in their eyes, the shape of the brows, the set of the mouth and the way they were standing. And in the action shots I saw— such as “The Catch” and action shots of famed Dodger pitcher Sandy Koufax—I felt like I was at the event at the moment of the photo, watching these incredible events unfold before my eyes. 

Also in the exhibit is a video, played on a loop, with interviews with Iooss and Leifer and some of their subjects, as well as back stories of the action shots (which I greatly appreciated and found useful, as when it comes to sports I am rather ignorant and didn’t know much about the specific events in the photos). All in all, although it is not at all my métier, I still greatly enjoyed this exhibit.

EDIT: Unfortunately, this exhibit has closed. But if you have the chance to see it somewhere else, don't miss it.