Men in uniform …
With their shoulder and thigh pads, helmets and mouthguards, American footballers can look as though they are kitted out for the battlefield. Commercial sports photography feeds into this, portraying the game’s stars like classical war heroes.
Oh boy …
Hailing from Ohio, Texas, Louisiana and Hawaii, the boys in Catherine Opie’s 2007-9 series High School Football play to type. Yet their body armour typically looks supersized, or their faces startlingly childlike; they are an inevitably awkward fit. With his stunning head of raven hair, Rusty looks as if he is balancing the roles of jock and surfer dude. There is a girlish softness to his face and limbs and the whiskery beard that gives the lie to his steely gaze.
Mother of invention …
Opie is one of the great portraitists and documentarians in contemporary US photography. She made her name in the 1990s when, annoyed at a normalising trend she perceived in queer culture, she made portraits of her friends from San Francisco’s lesbian leather scene. The attention-grabber was a self-portrait in a gimp mask, her arms pierced by rows of needles and the word “pervert” cut into her chest. Since then her subjects have included billboards, surfers, and motherhood and domestic life: projects united by her interest in the forces that shape identity.
Moving on …
Here, an age-old ideal of manliness exerts its power, and the gender politics implications are far-reaching. The school playing field is a dress rehearsal for life’s battleground after all, yet it is something of a cliche that the achievements nurtured there often wither in adulthood. Opie manages to reinvigorate this idea with her disarming portraits. Looking at Rusty, you cannot help but wonder what happened next.
Included in Masculinities: Liberation Through Photography, Barbican Art Gallery, EC2, to 23 August
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