The Body of a Student Athlete

For my photo project I based my ideas on the idea of being a college student and also being an athlete, thus your student-athlete. Originally my idea was to combine various images from a major a student-athlete might major in. However, that concept and idea would not focus on the objective of this project. Which is the body and how it moves, I wanted the focus of my pictures to be the student-athletes body. Specifically, how student athletes come in various forums. Yes, sometimes you can easily point out a student athlete. But now a day it is becoming harder and harder to determine who is a student athlete, unless you see them on the television.

            Growing up I always pictured myself being an athlete; I played in various sports growing up especially basketball. I dreamt of playing the NBA specifically for the Los Angeles Lakers, unfortunately that dream was short lived due to my height. That is when I turned to another sport, “baseball.” It did not matter how tall I was or if I could jump extremely high, what mattered was my ability to think about the situation I was in and react to what was happening in front of me. Which is incorporated in the photos I selected, the sports that the athletes are participating in do not have a required height, speed, or strength. Instead, it is the mental ability to adapt to what is happening at that moment, which also connects to the idea of them all being a student. The idea of being a student athlete maybe short lived for me during my final years at the UofA, but my passion for being healthy, staying active, and having fun will always be there even if it isn’t under the bright lights.

            The artists that influenced me for the photographs would have to be Nikki S. Lee and Deborah Bright. Their concepts and ideas of putting themselves in an environment or photo correlated with the ideas of a student-athlete. That they still are like regular students they have exams, classes, and other commitments outside their sport. They just happen to be very skilled and blessed with the ability to do what they do.